DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the cost of additional security measures which were given consideration but not adopted at Camp Bastion before September 2012;
	(2)  what the annual running cost of providing security at Camp Bastion has been in each year since 2010;
	(3)  what additional expenditure his Department has incurred on increased security measures at Camp Bastion since September 2012;
	(4)  what discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department had with military leaders responsible for security at Camp Bastion on security measures at the base prior to the attack of 14 September 2012;
	(5)  what changes have been made to the security arrangements at the Camp Bastion base since the attack on the night of 14 September 2012;
	(6)  how many and what proportion of the guard towers at Camp Bastion were empty on the night of 14 September 2012 immediately prior to the attack on the base;
	(7)  what internal investigations his Department will be undertaking regarding the actions of British officers responsible for security at Camp Bastion on the attack on the base on the night of 14 September 2012;
	(8)  how many of the British officers responsible for security at Camp Bastion in September 2012 have since been promoted;
	(9)  if he will provide details of the current security measures at Camp Bastion.

Mark Francois: The Chief of Defence Staff is currently reviewing the findings of the U.S. report on the review of security at Camp Bastion. Once this is complete, I will write to the hon. Member with the information he has requested.
	Substantive answer from Mark Francois to Kevan Jones:
	I undertook to write to you in response to the recent questions you tabled in the House on the subject of the attack on Camp Bastion in September 2012.
	I am sure you understand that my reply is constrained by the fact that, for reasons of operational security, I cannot describe specific force protection measures publicly.
	In the aftermath of such an attack, it is important to take a clear-eyed, dispassionate approach to the analysis of the circumstances in order that the right lessons are identified and learnt, and that is exactly what we have done in detail. However, much of the media reporting on this subject has omitted the fact that United States Marine Corps and UK personnel (from 51 Sqn RAF Regiment, 5 RAF Force Protection Wing) responded to the incursion decisively and with great courage. Having contained the insurgent assault, this combined force counter-attacked and proceeded to clear the airfield, killing 14 of the 15 attackers and capturing the remainder. During this brave action in difficult circumstances, two US personnel were killed and 17 US and UK personnel were wounded. Their sacrifice undoubtedly prevented greater loss of life and equipment.
	Turning to your questions. Security of all our overseas bases is a key focus for the Staff and the Defence Ministerial team. In this specific case, over the last 13 months, there has been a considerable amount of activity devoted to increasing understanding of what happened during the attack, the reasons why the attack was partially successful and what action was needed to prevent a recurrent. The UK has played its part in this activity to the full, both in conducting its own reviews and contributing to work carried out by ISAF and the US. As the recently published US Review acknowledges, much has been done to strengthen force protection measures at Camp Bastion since September 2012; as a direct result of this work. I can confirm that these measures have cost in the region of £3.0M(1), are considered by our Force Protection experts to be appropriate to the assessed level of threat, and that threat is kept under constant review.
	In response to your question about the manning of the watch towers at Camp Bastion at the time of the attack, I can confirm that 11 of the 24 guard towers were manned. This was a similar level of manning as that in operation on the US side of the camp, where a 50% manning profile was used. This information is available in the published version of the US Review.
	You asked how many British officers responsible for security at Camp Bastion at the time of the attack have since been promoted. In answering this, I have defined “security at Camp Bastion” as referring to those activities around the Camp perimeter and without the confines of the base that contribute to the security of the Camp perimeter. Using this definition we assess the number of officers to be around 20 of which less than half have been promoted in the last 13 months.
	You also asked about the cost of providing security at Camp Bastion. Security at the base has been progressively strengthened since the base was established in 2006 and a range of options has been considered over the period to meet our developing assessment of the threat, not least as we have moved back from a network of bases across Central Helmand to a single Main Operating Base and as the Insider Threat has developed. In terms of specific physical security measures, it has not been practicable to review all decisions in order to identify options not followed up; for most upgrades, there was an evolving case that refined understanding of the threat and the measures appropriate to meet this, assessing the relative benefits of a range of options to address the threat, against cost, practicability and time to deliver.
	In terms of running costs, we have not been able to identify manpower costs from Financial Year (FY) 2009-2010. From 2010, the annual manpower costs(2) for the security element at Bastion, covering the base itself but excluding the broader area-protection, has been:
	
		
			 Financial year Cost (£) 
			 2010-11 8,541,792 
			 2011-12 9,159,792 
			 2012-13 11,839,587 
			 2013-14 (April to September) 8,211,421 
		
	
	The costs of maintaining security structures and of running and maintaining security related systems cannot be broken out separately and are not included.
	I note that the question of the cost of security upgrades at Camp Bastion has been something of a focus for recent press reporting of the US Review. I am pleased, therefore, to take this opportunity to point out that the US report contains an erroneous assertion that specific risk mitigation measures identified following a security incident on the Bastion flight line in March 2012 were rejected by the UK chain of command. In fact, not only were the improvements made by the US and UK staffs in theatre at the time, they were also fully supported by the Permanent Joint Headquarters. We make a firm commitment to our Armed Forces that we will provide them with the equipment appropriate to the job we ask them to do.
	You asked some questions about the US Review and subsequent UK action. While the US Review was intended to examine US actions only and not those of coalition forces, the UK has carefully considered its findings. As a result, the Chief of the Defence Staff is confident that all significant lessons have been identified and acted upon.
	I hope this is helpful.
	(1) These measures do not include those taken over the period in response to our assessment of increased risks from Indirect Fire and Improvised Explosive Devices.
	(2) The marginal extra costs of the personnel involved in perimeter security.

Afghanistan

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the presence of British forces in Helmand province, Afghanistan, in reducing the production of opium in that country.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has made no formal assessment of the direct correlation between British Forces in Helmand and the production of opium in Afghanistan. The main effort of British Forces is in training, advising and assisting the Afghan security forces as they take the lead for security. Until August 2013, this included two military advisors in the Provincial Reconstruction Team (Lashkar Gah) who were involved in capacity building in the provincial Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan and Ministry of Counter Narcotics.

Armed Forces: Bullying

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many incidents of beasting or other bullying have been reported in relation to recruits at AFC Harrogate and ATFC Winchester in each of the past five years; and what action was taken in each such case.

Anna Soubry: The term 'beasting' is not clearly defined or formally recognised. At the former Army Technical Foundation College (ATFC) Winchester, 16 instances of assault were recorded in the last five years. 13 instances involved assault or battery of a junior soldier by one or more other junior soldiers. Three instances involved permanent staff, including one incident of bullying of one member of permanent staff by another. All cases resulted in sanction through service law, with the exception of one case of assault on a junior soldier by a member of permanent staff, which resulted in appropriate warning and sanction.
	All training for junior entrants transferred from ATFC Winchester to Army Foundation College (AFC) Harrogate in 2012. ATFC Winchester was renamed Army Training Regiment, Winchester and now trains senior entrants only. AFC Harrogate is now the sole location for junior entrant training. All incidents described above predate this move, with the exception of the incident involving permanent staff only, which occurred in December 2012.
	At AFC Harrogate, records show that there were five incidents of discipline involving permanent staff in the last five years: two involving battery and three involving ill treatment. Four cases resulted in warning and sanction and one case of ill treatment was dismissed.
	An allegation of an incident involving junior soldiers only at AFC Harrogate in May 2012 was fully investigated and for details of this incident I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois), on 10 June 2013, Official Report, column 4W, to the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Cathy Jamieson).
	Where there is any accusation of ill treatment involving permanent staff then the relevant staff member is suspended, pending investigation by the Royal Military Police.

Armed Forces: Civilians

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civilians have completed the condensed Initial Officer Training course; how many such civilians are currently serving in the armed forces; and what roles they have.

Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence holds no information which would indicate that civilians have completed any condensed Initial Officer Training courses. However, there are five AirTanker Sponsored Reservists who have undertaken the Reserve Officer Initial Training course. A further two are scheduled to take this course in March 2014. RAF Voyager is a pioneering example of the integration of RAF Reserves alongside full-time Squadrons. It includes a dedicated team of Sponsored Reservist pilots and engineers who are recruited and employed by AirTanker.

Armed Forces: Coroners

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to restrict the use of narrative verdicts in inquests into deaths of members of the armed forces.

Mark Francois: Coroners are independent judicial office holders and it would therefore not be appropriate for Ministers to comment on their judicial decisions, Coronial law and policy is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice, with judicial oversight and guidance provided by the Chief Coroner.

Armed Forces: Redundancy

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if he will take steps ensure that long-serving members of the armed forces, who have been scheduled for redundancy very shortly before their 18-year pension entitlement date, will be allowed to pass that date before being required to leave;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of armed forces personnel who have been scheduled for redundancy on dates falling within (a) one week, (b) one month and (c) six months of reaching their pension entitlement dates.

Anna Soubry: holding answer 18 November 2013
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answers given by my predecessor, the Minister for the Armed Forces, my right hon. Friend the Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois) on 1 March 2013, Official Report, columns 716-18W, to my hon. Friend the Member for South Swindon (Mr Buckland), the hon. Member for Coventry South (Mr Cunningham), and the hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Jones), and the right hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Mr Murphy).
	For Other Ranks who are members of Armed Forces Pension Scheme 1975 (AFPS 75), the normal requirement to serve for 22 years before receiving an immediate retirement income is reduced to 18 years on redundancy, a concession of four years. Officers on AFPS 75 will still qualify for an immediate income after 16 years. Personnel on Armed Forces Pension Scheme 2005 will continue to receive early departure payments after serving for 18 years, provided that they have reached the age of 40.
	In order to ensure that the redundancy programme is fair to all involved, clear selection criteria have been published by each of the Services. While rank and seniority are factors which are reflected in selection fields, length of reckonable service (which is closely associated with age) is not. It is therefore possible that individuals might be made redundant either just before or just after the length of service at which they qualify for an immediate pension. Allowing those who fall short of the 18-year service point to remain in service until they had passed that point would not resolve the issue of discharge in proximity to their immediate pension point (IPP), as there would still need to be a time limit defining who will qualify. Wherever we draw that line somebody will always be just over it, and facing the possibility of perceived disadvantage. Changing where the line falls to encompass those close to it will simply mean others fall close to the new line.
	The armed forces redundancy schemes recognise those who miss out on immediate incomes by paying them significantly enhanced tax-free redundancy compensation lump sums. On average, this figure is around £73,000 and for an Army Major it can on average be around £100,000. Where people leave before the qualification point, any pension rights that have been earned will also give them preserved pensions and further tax-free lump sums which they will receive at age 60 or 65, depending on the pension scheme of which they are members.
	No estimate has been made of the numbers of personnel falling short of their IPP in the time periods specified.

Armed Forces: Redundancy

Michael McCann: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces have been made redundant within six months of their scheduled retirement date since May 2010.

Anna Soubry: The scheduled retirement date for those members of the armed forces selected for compulsory redundancy is, for applicants, six months from the day of notification of being selected, and 12 months for non-applicants. The scheduled retirement date may not be the same as the date at which an individual will be eligible to receive an immediate retirement income. However the armed forces redundancy scheme recognises these individuals by paying them an enhanced tax free compensation lump sum.
	An individual can ask to bring their exit date forward, subject to agreement by their Service. Since May 2010, some 40 personnel have left the armed forces on compulsory redundancy in the six months preceding their scheduled retirement date.

Army

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many regular infantry and reserve infantry battalions there will be (a) before and (b) after the introduction of Army 2020; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: Under Army 2020 the number of regular infantry battalions will reduce from 36 to 31. The number of reserve infantry battalions will not change and remains at 14.

Conditions of Employment

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the proposed changes to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations will be applied to the transfer of staff to a government-owned, contractor-operated organisation under the Defence Reform Bill.

Philip Dunne: The Materiel Strategy programme is currently in the assessment phase and is considering two options; Defence Equipment and Support Plus (DE&S+) and a Government Owned Contractor Operated (GOCO) model. A final decision on which option will be taken forward is currently due in summer 2014. If a GOCO is the chosen option, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations in place at the time of transfer would apply to those Ministry of Defence civil service staff in-scope for transfer of their employment to the GOCO.

Defence Equipment and Support

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the assessment phase of DE&S-Plus provides for consideration of recruitment of civil servants into key positions on the basis of specialism rather than grade.

Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 25 November 2013, Official Report, column 36W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Worcestershire (Peter Luff).

Defence: Procurement

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what lessons-learned exercises have been conducted following the (a) cancellation of MRA4, (b) cancellation of Forward Rapid Effects System and (c) reversal of Joint Strike Fighter decision back to VSTOL variant; and if he will publish any reports from such exercises.

Philip Dunne: The rationale behind each of the decisions cited was different, although they all represent examples of where the Government has had to make difficult decisions to focus resources where they are most needed and balance the Defence budget. They are also examples where we had a clear understanding of the problems which allowed us to take those decisions. As we said when we published the Defence Equipment Plan 2012, we now have the assurance of a stable, well managed budget with disciplined processes, and confidence that the equipment programme is affordable and deliverable.
	The MRA4 project suffered from repeated delays and cost overruns and only one airframe had been delivered to the RAF, but it was the aircraft's projected future support costs that ultimately contributed to the decision not to bring it into service. The Strategic Defence Security Review (SDSR) did assess the options for reducing the fleet size, but found that the significant fixed costs meant that only limited savings could be realised by reducing the fleet compared with those from not bringing it into service at all.
	The FRES programme was not cancelled but our strategy for delivering the capability has evolved as our understanding of the requirement has matured. During the campaign in Afghanistan a wide range of new vehicles have been purchased for the Army and a large number are now being brought into the core programme. In addition the Scout SV, considered as part of the FRES programme, is progressing with its demonstration phase.
	The policy decision taken in the 2010 SDSR to purchase the carrier variant of the Joint Strike Fighter was right, based on the information available at the time. But more detailed technical work subsequently revealed that the costs had spiralled, from £950 million to £2 billion, risks had increased and the delivery timescale for a converted carrier would be longer than previously anticipated. In light of that assessment we took the decision to revert to the Short Take-Off Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter.

Firing Ranges: Tipner

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what preparations his Department has made for relocating activities currently held at Tipner firing range to an alternative site; when he expects that relocation to begin; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Murrison: Preparatory work to scope alternative facilities for Tipner Ranges has only just commenced and it is therefore too early to say when the relocation of activities currently undertaken at the ranges will begin. In the meantime the ranges remain in regular defence use.

Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of Voyager aircraft crews will be civilians.

Mark Francois: For military registered RAF operated Voyager aircraft of 10 Squadron and 101 Squadron the planned number of RAF and AirTanker Sponsored Reserve air crews is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Number of Air Crews(1) 
			 RAF (including Full-Time Reserve Service Royal Auxiliary Air Force) 30 
			 AirTanker Sponsored Reserves 7 
			 (1) A flight deck crew consisting of approximately three personnel. 
		
	
	For military air transport tasks, there are also 14 sets of RAF cabin crew and six sets of all civilian cabin crew.(1)
	Under the terms of the Voyager contract, AirTanker Services also operate aircraft on the civil aircraft register under a Civil Aviation Authority Air Operator Certificate. Crewing of these civil registered aircraft would be a matter for AirTanker.
	(1) A cabin crew consisting of approximately eight personnel.

Military Aircraft

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 4 November 2013, Official Report, column 202W, on military aircraft, how many recorded laser-related events have resulted in accidents taking place.

Mark Francois: None of the laser-related events referred to in my response of 6 November 2013, Official Report, column 202W, resulted in accidents.

Ministers’ Private Offices

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he (a) has appointed or (b) intends to appoint an enlarged ministerial office.

Philip Hammond: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 28 November 2013, Official Report, column 398W, by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude).

Philippines

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of his Department's budget is committed to assistance in the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: None of the Ministry of Defence's budget is committed specifically to assistance in the Philippines. Under the terms of an existing memorandum of understanding concerning humanitarian relief after natural disasters, the net additional costs of military support to the Philippines will be met from the budget of the Department for International Development. Net additional costs are those which the Department would not have incurred had the operation not taken place.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many of his Department's civil servants have been seconded to (a) the private sector and (b) trades unions in each year since 2010;
	(2)  how many secondees from (a) trades unions and (b) the voluntary sector have worked in his Department since 2010.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has seconded eight employees to the private sector, two in 2011, five in 2012 and one in 2013. No one has been seconded to a trades union. We have had no inward secondees from either trade unions or the voluntary sector.

WALES

Older People: Crime Prevention

Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment his Department has made of the recommendations of Age Cymru's Scams and Swindles campaign.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office is very supportive of the work being undertaken by Age Cymru to address financial scams and their impact on older people.
	My noble Friend Baroness Randerson hosted a roundtable event on 25 November to explore in more detail how partners across Wales can work together to address such scams. A range of organisations attended, including Age Cymru, the Police, Royal Mail, British Telecom, Trading Standards, and Citizens Advice, and agreed to look at how their organisations can change current working practices as well as agreeing to support next year's Scams Awareness Month headed by Age Cymru.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many of his Department's civil servants have been seconded to (a) the private sector and (b) trades unions in each year since 2010.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office has had no civil servants seconded to (a) the private sector and (b) trade unions since 2010.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many secondees from (a) trades unions and (b) the voluntary sector have worked in his Department since 2010.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office has had no secondees from (a) trade unions and (b) the voluntary sector working in the Department since 2010.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Energy: Prices

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions she is having with (a) the Northern Ireland Executive and (b) her Irish counterpart on the effect of changes in the cost of energy on older people in Northern Ireland.

Theresa Villiers: These are devolved matters and have not therefore been raised with me by Executive Ministers.
	The Northern Ireland Executive published its fuel poverty strategy in March 2011 which runs until March 2015. Under the plans £31 million will be spent in energy efficiency improvements and a boiler replacement scheme will further help those in greatest need.
	Until March 2015, £16.5 million will be spent on the Warm Homes Scheme which has helped in excess of 80,000 households with insulation since it started in 2001. In certain circumstances Warm Home Plus can provide up to £6,500 per household.
	The strategy introduced new schemes-such as the pilot Boiler Replacement Scheme, a Benefit Uptake campaign and oil stamp saving schemes.
	In addition, the UK Government has kept its pledge to protect winter fuel payments of up to £300 for 12.7 million pensioners in more than 9 million homes across the UK. We have increased funding for cold weather payments by £50 million so that they are now worth £25 a week. As a result of our triple lock we have delivered a £650 increase in the basic state pension.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many of her Department's civil servants have been seconded to (a) the private sector and (b) trades unions in each year since 2010.

Theresa Villiers: No civil servants in my Department have been seconded to the private sector or trade unions since 2010.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many secondees from (a) trades unions and (b) the voluntary sector have worked in her Department since 2010.

Theresa Villiers: No secondees from trade unions or the voluntary sector have worked in my Department since April 2010.

Staff

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many members of staff of each grade in her Department work in (a) Great Britain and (b) Northern Ireland.

Theresa Villiers: Based November 2013 data, the breakdown, by rank, of staff in my Department working in (a) Great Britain and (b) Northern Ireland is as follows:
	
		
			 (a) Great Britain 
			  Number 
			 Senior Civil Service 5 
			 Band A/Grade7 7 
			 Band B/Deputy Principal 5 
			 Band C/Staff Officer 11 
			 Band D/Executive Officer 11 
			 Band E/Administrative Officer 5 
			 Band F/Administrative Assistant 1 
		
	
	
		
			 (b) Northern Ireland 
			  Number 
			 Senior Civil Service 4 
			 Band A/Grade 7 12 
			 Band B/Deputy Principal 12 
			 Band C/Staff Officer 20 
			 Band D/Executive Officer 25 
			 Band E/Administrative Officer 19 
			 Band F/Administrative 23 
		
	
	These figures include both staff employed by my Department and those on inward secondment.

PRIME MINISTER

Gibraltar: Spain

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Prime Minister what recent discussions he has had with his Spanish counterpart on the situation on the Spanish-Gibraltarian border.

David Cameron: I raised the issue with Prime Minister Rajoy when we met in Vilnius on 29 November and made clear our deep concern about the incident in which British Government bags containing official correspondence and communications were opened by Spanish officials while in transit.

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Prime Minister with reference to his letter to Sir John Chilcot of 5 November 2013, to which Government Departments he refers when mentioning the scale of the declassification task; and what the reasons are for the time taken to conclude the Government's response to the disclosure requests.

David Cameron: I have nothing further to add.

TRANSPORT

Cycling

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to promote cycling proficiency for the deaf community.

Robert Goodwill: The Department for Transport promotes "Bikeability" cycle training in England. Bikeability is “cycling proficiency” for the 21st century, giving people the skills and confidence to cycle safely and competently in modern road conditions. Bikeability is underpinned by the National Standard for Cycle Training. The National Standard is built upon similar principles to training for motorcycle riders and car drivers, teaching the importance of assessing the likely risks faced by road users.
	To supplement the National Standard, the Department has published guidance called “Delivering Inclusive Cycle Training—A good practice guide for disability cycle training”. The guidance provides advice to National Standard instructors on how to help people with a disability, including hearing impairments, achieve National Standard cycle training outcomes.
	The Department provides £11 million per annum grant funding for Bikeability training for children in England (outside London), enabling training for around 275,000 children. Some local authorities also provide free or subsidised cycle training for adults.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions have taken place between HS2 Ltd and the Coal Authority on mining subsidence and unreported bell pits along the proposed route of High Speed 2. [R]

Robert Goodwill: HS2 Ltd has obtained historical mapping from the Coal Authority which helped inform the route selection for Phase One. In addition, HS2 Ltd has also liaised with Network Rail and the Highways Agency regarding planning for HS2 in areas of historic mining activity. Once Phase Two of the project moves into the hybrid Bill development stage, which is due to commence in early 2015, further engagement with the Coal Authority as well as detailed geotechnical studies will be undertaken for this stage of the project.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many properties in the entire safeguarded area for phase one of High Speed 2 are not to be demolished.

Robert Goodwill: HS2 Ltd estimate the number of properties within the safeguarding zone for HS2 phase one, which are not to be demolished as a result of construction or operation, is 3730.
	Of this number, some 3,450 are within sub-surface safeguarding, which normally means that the route is in tunnel at that point.
	Note:
	Safeguarding numbers were calculated using Royal Mail data cross matched with HS2 Ltd's mapping information.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much Deloitte LLP was paid for producing the HS2 Property bond option report; and whether this report was reviewed by either an external independent panel or his Department.

Robert Goodwill: Deloitte LLP was paid £66,447.42 inclusive of VAT to produce the HS2 Property bond option report. The report was not reviewed by an external independent panel. The report was, however, reviewed internally to inform the current consultation on long-term property compensation measures for Phase One of HS2. The output from that internal review is incorporated into chapter 5 of the Property Compensation Consultation.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when Deloitte LLP and Robert Colley were appointed to the new HS2 Ltd Economic Advisory Panel; and whether Deloitte had been commissioned to undertake any work for (a) HS2 Ltd and (b) his Department before this date.

Robert Goodwill: HS2 Ltd appointed Rob Colley to the HS2 Ltd Economic Advisory Panel on 26 September 2012. At the time of appointment, Rob Colley worked for Deloitte LLP.
	(a) Prior to 26 September 2012, Deloitte LLP had been commissioned under the HS2 Ltd Estates Professional Services Framework for the following contracts, to provide re-location and acquisition advice:
	Work Package 2-TNT
	Work Package 3-UK Mail
	Deloitte LLP has not been commissioned to undertake any economic advisory work.
	(b) The Department for Transport has not commissioned any work from Deloitte in relation to HS2 before this date.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what involvement Robert Colley had in Deloitte LLP's report on a property bond option for High Speed 2.

Robert Goodwill: Robert Colley helped to proof-read and sense-check Deloitte Real Estate's compulsory purchase team's technical reporting. He also assisted in crafting and proofing the words for a non-technical summary. He did not advise on the design of the scheme or the mechanics of implementation.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether a tendering process was undertaken to determine who would produce the report into a property bond option for High Speed 2.

Robert Goodwill: The report on a property bond option for High Speed Two was undertaken through an existing contract and not subject to a separate tendering process.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department will provide (a) financial support and (b) advice to individuals and communities petitioning against the HS2 Hybrid Bill.

Robert Goodwill: Petitioning is a parliamentary process and as such guidance and contact information can be found can be found on Parliament's website:
	http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/HS2-leaflet.pdf
	This guidance leaflet has already been provided to individuals who received landowner's notices when the Hybrid Bill was deposited.
	The Department has no plans to offer financial support to petitioners. The only cost that a petitioner needs to incur is the £20 fee to cover the administration costs to the House authorities of the petitioning process.

ICT

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people are employed within centralised IT departments or teams in his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: The Department for Transport and its six executive agencies employ 522 people within centralised IT departments or teams. In full-time equivalents this is 509.4 posts.

Motor Vehicles

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of foreign vehicles which have entered the UK to date.

Robert Goodwill: The Department does not have an estimate of the number of foreign registered vehicles that have entered the UK to date.

Motor Vehicles

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of foreign registered vehicles there are on UK roads.

Robert Goodwill: The Department does not have an estimate of the number of foreign registered vehicles that are on UK roads.

Offshore Industry

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which air fields in the UK are used by companies contracted to provide transportation services for the offshore oil and gas industry in the North Sea; how many helicopters are licensed for transportation services at each facility; which models of helicopters are based at each facility; and how many offshore workers were transported to and from each facility in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Robert Goodwill: The following is a table of operating bases providing commercial air transport services in support of the oil and gas industry in the North sea by UK Air Operators. Alongside each is the number of aircraft of each type operated from that base.
	
		
			 Base Type Number 
			 Aberdeen Sikorsky S92 15 
			 Aberdeen Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma 21 
			 Aberdeen Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma Mk II 20 
			 Aberdeen AgustaWestland AW139 4 
			 Humberside Sikorsky S76 2 
			 Humberside AgustaWestland AW139 3 
			 Norwich AgustaWestland AW139 3 
			 Norwich Eurocopter C155 1 
			 Norwich Sikorsky S76 2 
			 Norwich Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin 1 
			 North Denes AgustaWestland AW139 4 
			 Scatsta Sikorsky S92 6 
			 Sumburgh Sikorsky S92 1 
		
	
	For each base, the number of passengers carried to and from offshore facilities was as follows:
	
		
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Aberdeen 519,079 474,856 458,783 498,326 512,839 
			 Humberside 43,022 55,925 54,660 52,097 52,235 
			 Norwich 64,571 75,609 50,931 57,139 48,250 
			 Scatsta 114,385 127,052 131,760 135,116 139,671 
			 Sumburgh 9,092 3,556 4,170 4,042 5,731 
		
	
	Neither the Department nor the Civil Aviation Authority does not hold passenger data for North Denes as it does not meet the criteria to report passenger data to the CAA.

Offshore Industry

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the Civil Aviation Authority's (CAA) review of offshore helicopter operations in the North Sea to be published; and whether the CAA have met with (a) ministers, (b) officials and (c) representatives of his Department's executive agencies as part of this review.

Robert Goodwill: The CAA review of North Sea helicopter operations is expected to be published in the first quarter of 2014. The CAA has met with officials of the Department for Transport, the Transport Select Committee, and is liaising with the Scottish Government.

Offshore Industry

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on a public inquiry into the fatal helicopter crash in the North Sea on 23 August 2013; and what his general policy is on holding a public inquiry into this incident and its effect on the offshore energy sector.

Robert Goodwill: The Secretary of State has had no discussions with the Scottish Government on a public inquiry into the fatal helicopter crash in the North Sea on 23 August 2013.
	The Government thinks that it is premature to call for a public inquiry when the outcome of the ongoing Air Accidents Investigation Branch investigation and Civil Aviation Authority Review are not known.

Parking: Urban Areas

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to his Department's press release entitled Eric Pickles calls for more town centre parking spaces, published in August 2013, what safeguards he has put in place to prevent integrated transport schemes being used by some local authorities to introduce anti-car measures.

Robert Goodwill: The joint Department for Transport and Department for Communities and Local Government press release emphasised the importance of appropriate parking policies for the vitality of our town centres. It also highlighted that councils should not be using parking policies as an anti-car measure.
	Equally, the Department believes that integrated transport schemes have an important role to play in providing choice to the travelling public. The Department's ‘Door to Door Strategy’, published in March 2013 sets out this objective, and calls for an inclusive transport system that works for everyone, including motorists.
	Ultimately it is the role of local authorities and relevant highway authorities to determine how best to address the specific needs of their communities.

Railway Stations: Parking

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the average increase in station car parking charges in each English region since 2009.

Stephen Hammond: The car parking charges at stations are a commercial matter for the station operator. The Department does not generally hold information with regard to costs of parking and any rises in that cost.

Railways: Finance

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what public subsidies each train operating company received in each of the last five years.

Stephen Hammond: The required figures for the last four years are published (under the heading ‘subsidy per passenger mile Excel file’) by the Department at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rail-subsidy-per-passenger-mile
	while all years are published by the Office of Rail Regulation at:
	http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1528

Railways: Franchises

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what account was taken of the Rail Franchising Competition Guide in designing the Invitation to Tender for the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern passenger franchise.

Stephen Hammond: I refer the hon. Member to the reply provided on 4 November 2013, Official Report, column 44W, when I answered this question.

Rescue Services

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many hours of shift time were staffed below risk-assessed level at (a) Humber, (b) Belfast, (c) Liverpool and (d) Swansea maritime rescue coordination centres in September 2013.

Stephen Hammond: During September 2013 the following Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCC) were staffed below risk assessed levels for the following amount of 'shift time':
	(a) Humber—408 Hours (34 out of 60 Shifts)
	(b) Belfast—408 Hours (34 out of 60 Shifts)
	(c) Liverpool—240 Hours (20 out of 60 Shifts)
	(d) Swansea—84 Hours (seven out of 60 Shifts)
	Where there are specific issues at a MRCC Her Majesty's Coastguard are using the current long established pairing arrangements between MRCCs. This enables each MRCC to be connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.

Rescue Services: Liverpool

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff of Liverpool Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre have so far signalled intention to transfer to another MRCC upon the Liverpool centre's closure; how many new staff have been recruited at that centre in the last 12 months; and what the current level of staffing is compared to its risk-assessed level.

Stephen Hammond: Five members of staff at Liverpool Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) have indicated that transferring to the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) or a Coastguard Operations Centre (CGOC) is one of the options they would consider upon the closure of Liverpool MRCC.
	Four members of staff have been recruited at Liverpool MRCC in the last 12 months.
	During October 2013 Liverpool MRCC was staffed at below risk assessed levels on 20 of 62 shifts. These situations are mitigated by MRCC pairing where each MRCC is connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support. In respect of Liverpool MRCC mutual support is available through a fixed link from Holyhead MRCC and dial up links from the MRCCs at Milford Haven, Swansea, Belfast or Aberdeen.

Rescue Services: Portland

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff of Portland Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre have so far signalled intention to transfer to another MRCC upon the Portland centre's closure; how many new staff have been recruited at that centre in the last 12 months; and what the current level of staffing is compared to its risk-assessed level.

Stephen Hammond: Eight members of staff at Portland Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) have indicated that transferring to the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) or a Coastguard Operations Centre (CGOC) is one of the options they would consider upon the closure of Portland MRCC.
	Three members of staff have been recruited at Portland MRCC in the last 12 months.
	During October 2013 Portland MRCC was staffed at below risk assessed levels on 16 of 62 shifts. These situations are mitigated by MRCC pairing where each MRCC is connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support. In respect of Solent MRCC mutual support is available through a fixed link from Solent MRCC and dial up links from the MRCCs at Falmouth, Brixham, Dover or Thames.

Rescue Services: Solent

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff of Solent Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre have so far signalled intention to transfer to another MRCC upon the Solent centre's closure; how many new staff have been recruited at that centre in the last 12 months; and what the current level of staffing is compared to its risk-assessed level.

Stephen Hammond: 15 members of staff at Solent Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) have indicated that transferring to the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) or a Coastguard Operations Centre (CGOC) is one of the options they would consider upon the closure of Solent MRCC.
	Three members of staff have been recruited at Solent MRCC in the last 12 months.
	During October 2013 Solent MRCC was staffed at below risk assessed levels on three of 62 shifts. These situations are mitigated by MRCC pairing where each MRCC is connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support. In respect of Solent MRCC mutual support is available through a fixed link from Portland MRCC and dial up links from the MRCCs at Falmouth, Brixham, Dover or Thames.

Rescue Services: Swansea

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff of Swansea Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre have so far signalled intention to transfer to another MRCC upon the Swansea centre's closure; how many new staff have been recruited at that centre in the last 12 months; and what the current level of staffing is compared to its risk-assessed level.

Stephen Hammond: 10 members of staff at Swansea Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) have indicated that transferring to the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) or a Coastguard Operations Centre (CGOC) is one of the options they would consider upon the closure of Swansea MRCC.
	No members of staff have been recruited at Swansea MRCC in the last 12 months.
	During October 2013 Swansea MRCC was staffed at below risk assessed levels on nine of 62 shifts. These situations are mitigated by MRCC pairing where each MRCC is connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support. In respect of Swansea MRCC mutual support is available through a fixed link from Milford Haven MRCC and dial up links from the MRCCs at Falmouth, Brixham, Holyhead or Liverpool.

Transport: Finance

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the name, number and amount of each grant given to local authorities by his Department for integrated transport schemes was in the last 12 months.

Stephen Hammond: In 2012-13, around £211.5 million was paid from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund to deliver 95 sustainable transport projects in 11 authorities across England. This funding was granted under section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003, through grant determination numbers: 31/2063, 31/2067 and 31/2083. This year the Department will pay approximately £175.8 million from the fund under the same statutory arrangements but through grant determination number: 31/2178.
	The Department also provides Integrated Transport Block Funding to authorities for small scale transport improvement schemes. It is allocated to all local transport authorities, in England, outside of London, by formula. The funding formula, and the amounts awarded to each authority in 2011-12 and 2012-13 can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-transport-capital-block-funding

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Climate Change

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the benefits of climate change to the UK environment and food supply.

Dan Rogerson: The UK Climate Change Risk Assessment, which was laid before Parliament in January 2012, contains a full analysis of the opportunities and threats from our changing climate, including in relation to the environment and agriculture. The report is available at:
	www.gov.uk

Discrimination

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many complaints of sexual discrimination or harassment have been lodged against employees of his Department or its executive agencies by (a) employees and (b) other individuals in each of the last five years; and how many such complaints resulted in disciplinary action.

Dan Rogerson: There have been no formal complaints of sexual discrimination or harassment lodged against employees of DEFRA and its executive agencies by employees or other individuals in the last five years.
	The Rural Payments Agency have had no complaints formally lodged since October 2012 but to answer for the period prior to this date would be of disproportionate cost.

Discrimination

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many complaints of homophobic or transphobic discrimination or harassment have been lodged against employees of his Department or its executive agencies by (a) employees and (b) other individuals in each of the last five years; and how many such complaints resulted in disciplinary action.

Dan Rogerson: There were no formal complaints of homophobic or transphobic discrimination or harassment lodged against employees of DEFRA and its executive agencies by current employees or other individuals in the last five years.
	The Rural Payments Agency have had no complaints formally lodged since October 2012 but to answer for the period prior to this date would be of disproportionate cost.

Dogs: Electronic Training Aids

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress he has made on banning electric shock collars on dogs following the publication of research funded by his Department on that issue.

George Eustice: DEFRA commissioned and has published research which provides evidence that electronic training aids can have a negative impact on the welfare of some dogs. However, the evidence from these studies is not strong enough to support a ban under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The Government therefore has no plans to ban such devices in England. However, we have asked the industry to draw up guidance for dog owners and trainers advising how to use e-collars properly and to develop a manufacturers' charter to ensure any e-collars on sale are made to high standards.

Employment Tribunals Service

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many claims at employment tribunals have been lodged against his Department on the grounds of pregnancy or maternity discrimination in each of the last five years; and how many such cases were found against his Department.

Dan Rogerson: There have been no employment tribunals claims lodged against core DEFRA or its executive agencies in the last five years on the grounds of pregnancy or maternity discrimination.
	The Rural Payments Agency have had no complaints formally lodged since October 2012 but to answer for the period prior to this date would be of disproportionate cost.

Floods: Insurance

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he took to consult individual Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive in relation to the flood insurance provisions within the Water Bill; and if he will make a statement on the process of consultation.

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA has regularly updated Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive and has also held regular meetings with officials in the Northern Ireland Executive to discuss the flood insurance provisions within the Water Bill.
	The public consultation sought views on the Government's approach to flood insurance in the summer. The Government's response to the public consultation was published on 18 November 2013.

Fly-grazing

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for East Hampshire of 21 November 2013, Official Report, column 995W, on horses, if he will make an assessment of the effect of fly grazing on the local environment.

George Eustice: There are no plans to make such an assessment. Where a landowner has a horse fly grazing on their land, it is possible under section 4 of the Animals Act 1971 for the landowner to secure reasonable costs incurred from the owner of the horse for any damage it may cause.

Food: Waste

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will estimate the amount of food waste created by the hospitality and food service industry annually.

Dan Rogerson: The total annual food waste produced across the hospitality and food service sector is 920,000 tonnes, according to recent research by the Waste and Resource Action Programme (WRAP).
	A copy of WRAP'S research is available at:
	http://www.wrap.org.uk/node/17924
	In order to reduce this waste, the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement has been developed with WRAP. It is a voluntary agreement between the UK and devolved Governments and the hospitality and food service sector, to prevent food waste and increase recycling. The agreement now has over 170 signatories and supporters signed up.
	The Agreement has two targets:
	(a) Waste Prevention: To reduce food and associated packaging waste arising by 5% by the end of 2015.
	(b) Waste Management target: To increase the overall rate of food and packaging waste being recycled, composted or sent to anaerobic digestion to at least 70% by the end of 2015.

Food: Waste

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the success of the Courtauld Commitment in reducing household waste from groceries.

Dan Rogerson: Under the Courtauld Commitment a 3.7% absolute reduction in total household food waste was achieved (270,000 tonnes per year) against a target of 4% (92% of the target was achieved). This was despite an increase of 4% in the number of households since 2007.
	The final results of the second phase of the Courtauld Commitment were published on 28 November 2013:
	http://www.wrap.org.uk/node/9297/

ICT

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people are employed within centralised IT departments or teams in his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Dan Rogerson: As at 29 November 2013, 58 employees (56.06 full-time equivalents) were employed in core DEFRA's ICT teams.

Ministers' Private Offices

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he (a) has appointed or (b) intends to appoint an enlarged ministerial office.

Dan Rogerson: I refer the hon. Member to the Minister for the Cabinet Office's answer of 28 November 2013, Official Report, column 398W.

Reservoirs

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 26 November 2013, Official Report, column 205W, on reservoirs, if he will publish his Department's estimate of potential costs presented to HM Treasury on 12 March 2012.

Dan Rogerson: The report to which I referred to in my previous answer of 26 November 2013 will consider the costs and benefits of on-farm reservoirs. It is not Government practice to publish internal communications between Departments concerning policy formulation.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many of his Department's civil servants have been seconded to (a) the private sector and (b) trades unions in each year since 2010.

Dan Rogerson: As at 31 October 2013, core DEFRA staff have been seconded to the following private sector organisations since 2010:
	
		
			 Name of company seconded to Number of outward secondees 
			 College of Europe 1 
			 Fairtrade Foundation 1 
			 LOCOG 4 
			 ASDA 1 
			 EBRD 1 
			 Gardline 1 
			 J Sainsburys 1 
			 National Non-Food Crops Centre 1 
			 North Sea Marine Cluster Gardline 1 
			 SERCO 1 
			 UK Financial Investments 1 
			 URS Infrastructure and Environment 1 
		
	
	During the same period, no core DEFRA staff have been seconded to any trade unions.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many secondees from (a) trades unions and (b) the voluntary sector have worked in his Department since 2010.

Dan Rogerson: As at 31 October 2013, staff have been seconded into core DEFRA from the following voluntary sector organisations since 2010:
	
		
			 Name of company seconded from Number of inward secondees 
			 ENCAMS (Environmental Campaigns)-Keep Britain Tidy 1 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust 1 
			 National Trust 1 
		
	
	During the same period, no staff have been seconded into core DEFRA from any trade unions.

Waste and Resources Action Programme

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when his Department will announce the conclusions of its review of the Waste and Resources Action Programme's funding and function.

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA published the summary report of the review, and responses to the 'Opportunity to comment' document, on 6 November at:
	www.gov.uk
	This report contains the conclusions of the review. I have placed a copy in the Library of the House.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Annual Reports

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when his Department's most recent annual report will be published.

Esther McVey: The Department has not yet published its 2012-13 annual report and accounts. The Department plans to lay and publish later this year, in advance of the statutory deadline on the 31 January 2014.

Debt Collection

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has referred a constituent of the right hon. Member for Birkenhead, Mr Thomas Balchin, to Akinika Debt Recovery.

Michael Penning: As my answer contains personal information I am communicating privately with the right. hon. Member.

Housing Benefit

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the expenditure on housing benefit in each English region as (a) total expenditure and (b) expenditure per claimant in each year since 2009-10.

Steve Webb: The total expenditure on housing benefit in each region in England since 2009-10 for which data are available is shown in the following tables:
	
		
			 Nominal (£ million) 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 North East 863 924 992 1,050 
			 North West 2,206 2,372 2,540 2,654 
			 Yorkshire & Humber 1,384 1,497 1,609 1,701 
			 East Midlands 1,035 1,112 1,194 1,272 
			 West Midlands 1,614 1,735 1,850 1,970 
			 East 1,516 1,632 1,743 1,848 
			 London 5,185 5,539 5,890 6,089 
			 South East 2,374 2,537 2,696 2,830 
			 South West 1,424 1,526 1,623 1,707 
			 Total England 17,600 18,874 20,137 21,120 
		
	
	
		
			 Real terms (£ million) 
			  (2013-14 prices) 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 North East 939 978 1,028 1,074 
			 North West 2,401 2,510 2,632 2,715 
			 Yorkshire & Humber 1,507 1,584 1,667 1,740 
			 East Midlands 1,127 1,177 1,238 1,302 
			 West Midlands 1,757 1,836 1,917 2,015 
			 East 1,650 1,728 1,806 1,890 
			 London 5,643 5,862 6,104 6,229 
			 South East 2,584 2,685 2,794 2,895 
			 South West 1,550 1,615 1,682 1,746 
			 Total England 19,157 19,976 20,868 21,606 
			 Note: Figures may differ slightly to those previously published due to updated outturn data from local authorities. Source: Local authority subsidy returns 
		
	
	Details on average amount of housing benefit paid to claimants in each region in England since 2009-10 can be found at:
	https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
	Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
	https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children with special educational needs live in households affected by the under-occupancy penalty.

Esther McVey: The information requested is not available.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many disabled children live in households affected by the under-occupancy penalty.

Esther McVey: The information requested is not available.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 20 November 2013, Official Report, columns 919-20W, on housing benefit: social rented housing, if he will list the geographical locations where the independent evaluation will take place.

Esther McVey: An independent consortium has been commissioned by DWP to carry out a two year monitoring of the effects of the removal of the spare room subsidy across Great Britain. The consortium is led by Ipsos-MORI and includes the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research.
	The research includes effects of the measures on supply issues, impacts in rural areas as well as effects on financial circumstances and vulnerable individuals. The evaluation includes research with claimants, social landlords, local authority staff and voluntary organisations.
	Case study areas have been selected to ensure a geographical spread across England, Wales and Scotland and a range of local authority and housing stock characteristics. To protect the integrity and robustness of the evaluation evidence, following advice from the independent consortium, details of the specific case study areas participating will not be identified publicly, at least not until completion of all planned fieldwork by the consortium in autumn 2014.
	The evaluation is, taking place over a two year period, and commenced in April 2013. Initial findings will be available in 2014 and a final report will be published in late 2015.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect of the under-occupancy penalty on non-resident fathers; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: A general principle of domestic social security law is to prevent double provision.
	A child is taken into account in the housing benefit assessment when the claimant or partner has primary responsibility for them. This will be the person that the child normally resides with or where the child spends an equal time in different households, the person in receipt of child benefit.
	The rules relating to size criteria have been in place in the private sector since 2008 and the Government does not see why minority carers in the social sector should be treated differently to minority carers in the private sector.

ICT

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are employed within centralised IT departments or teams in his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Penning: The Department for Work and Pensions employs 1,633 people in its central IT functions.

Industrial Health and Safety

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the consequences for workplace health and safety of ending the requirement for written risk assessments for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Michael Penning: The Government is focused on effective and proportionate management of real safety or health risks. Written risk assessments can play a role but are not necessary in all circumstances. The Government therefore agrees with the recommendation of the business-led EU task force that national governments should have flexibility to decide when small, low risk businesses need written risk assessments.

Industrial Health and Safety

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the value of written risk assessments for small and medium-sized enterprises operating in high risk sectors.

Michael Penning: The Government is not proposing changes to risk assessment requirements for high risk activities undertaken by small and medium-sized enterprises.

Jobcentre Plus

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of separate claims processed by Jobcentre Plus centres using an 0845 number in each parliamentary constituency in 2012-13.

Esther McVey: The Department does not use any 0845 numbers to process calls for new claims to working age benefits.

Jobcentre Plus

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what training is given to Jobcentre Plus staff on dealing with people who are discharged from the armed forces on medical grounds.

Esther McVey: There is no specific training but we do have our network of armed forces champions who are there to help advisers understand the range of support available to service leavers and to actively signpost to appropriate organisations.
	Specific health conditions are included as part of mainstream disability training for DEAs/ESA advisers.

Jobcentre Plus: Scotland

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants' cases are currently being investigated by Jobcentre Plus (JCP) offices in Scotland for breaches of jobseeker agreements with regard to the application of retrospective sanctions, by (a) JCP office in Scotland and (b) month since May 2010.

Esther McVey: The reply assumes that the question relates to jobseeker's allowance sanctions for failure to participate in DWP's back to work schemes under the Jobseeker's Allowance (Employment, Skills and Enterprise Scheme) Regulations 2011 and in the Mandatory Work Activity scheme which were delayed as a result of the Reilly v. the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions judicial review.
	As a result of the High Court and Court of Appeal judgments in that case, the DWP had to stockpile sanction referrals for failures to participate in these schemes where no decision had been made at the time of those judgments.
	The passing of the Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Act 2013 allowed DWP to make decisions on these cases and this process was completed in the summer of 2013.
	Official statistics covering this time period will not be available until early 2014.

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the savings accrued to the Exchequer as a result of the fall in the number of people (a) in total and (b) aged 18 to 24 years old who claimed jobseeker's allowance in the last 24 months; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: The estimated total reduction in spending on jobseeker's allowance between September 2011 and September 2013, compared to a position where the jobseeker's allowance caseload stayed at 2011 levels, is:
	(a) £226 million for all claimants
	(b) £295 million for claimants aged 18 to 24.
	This estimate does not take account of the effects on spending on other benefits, tax credits or tax and national insurance revenue, as it is not possible to estimate these with any degree of certainty.
	Savings for ages 18 to 24 are higher than those for the total caseload because the 18 to 24 caseload falls further from September 2011 levels than the overall caseload. The estimated saving is summed over 24 months and due to seasonality the starting month can have a large impact on this.
	The estimate assumes any reduction in the caseload is evenly spread across the distribution of payments of jobseeker's allowance.
	Notes and sources:
	Office for National Statistics claimant count, Great Britain, non-seasonally adjusted.
	Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, and internal DWP projections, of the age breakdown, and average amounts of benefit.
	DWP accounting data.

Jobseeker’s Allowance: Barrow in Furness

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average length of time in receipt of jobseeker's allowance is for current claimants in Barrow and Furness constituency who are (a) women, (b) men, (c) aged between 16 and 24 and (d) aged over 50.

Esther McVey: Statistics on the number of jobseeker's allowance claimants in Barrow and Furness, by age, sex and duration of claim can be found at:
	https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp
	Guidance for users can be found at:
	https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp

Means-tested Benefits

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many working households are also claiming means-tested benefits.

Esther McVey: There are 4,200,000 families (benefit units) in the United Kingdom in receipt of at least one income-related benefit in which at least one person in the family is in work in 2011-12.
	Entitlement to some benefits is based on the circumstances of an individual, while others are based on the circumstances of a benefit unit. Therefore it is more appropriate for the analysis requested to be presented at benefit unit level rather than at household level.
	Income related benefits includes the following: housing benefit, council tax credit,
	pension credit, jobseeker's allowance, employment and support allowance, income support, maternity grant from social fund, funeral grant from social fund, community care grant from social fund, return to work credit, working tax credit, child tax credit.
	Working benefit units include all benefit units in which at least one member of the benefit unit is either an employee or self-employed in full-time or part-time work. This includes those doing unpaid work in their own business or a business that a relative owns.
	The FRS is known to under-record benefit receipt. Please see table M.6 in the methodology section for more information:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/206887/frs_2011_12_report.pdf
	Following standard FRS practice, the figures have been rounded to the nearest 100,000. This would result in a number between 50,000 and 149,999 being rounded to 100,000 while a number between 150,000 and 249,999 would be rounded to 200,000.

Means-tested Benefits

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total amount of means-tested benefits paid to claimants in working households was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Michael Penning: The information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Expenditure 2011-12 
			  Benefits paid to claimants in working families (£ million) 
			 Housing Benefit 3,820 
			 Council Tax Benefit/Rates Rebate 473 
			 Pension Credit 50 
			 Income Support 145 
			 Jobseeker's Allowance (Income Related) 326 
			 Employment and Support Allowance (Income Related) 113 
			 Social Fund Maternity Grant 8 
			 Social Fund Funeral Grant 12 
			 Social Fund Community Care Grant 12 
			 In-Work Credit 116 
			 Source: Family Resources Survey 2011-12 and DWP Statistical and Accounting Data. 
		
	
	Housing benefit and council tax benefit figures are based on claimants not in receipt of any other DWP benefit. All of in-work credit expenditure is included.
	The Family Resources Survey has been used to estimate how much spending on the other benefits in the table is on claimants who are in benefit units where at least one person is in work.
	A benefit unit is defined as a single adult or a married or cohabiting couple and any dependent children. An adult is defined as those individuals aged 16 or over, unless defined as a dependent child. An individual may be defined as a child if aged 16 to 19 years old and they are not married nor in a Civil Partnership nor living with a partner; and living with parents; and in full-time non-advanced education or in unwaged Government training.
	The Family Resources Survey is a nationally representative sample of UK households. The figures from the Family Resources Survey are based on a sample of households which have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the Family Resources Survey to former Government Office Region population by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining non-response error.
	Entitlement to many benefits is based on the circumstances of a benefit unit, rather than the individual. Therefore it is more appropriate for the analysis requested to be presented at benefit unit level rather than individual level.

Pensioners: Social Security Benefits

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps the Government is taking to inform people of pensionable age of their entitlement to benefits.

Steve Webb: The Government are committed to ensuring pensioners receive the benefits they are entitled to.
	The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) makes information available in various locations (for example, our website at www.gov.uk. and leaflets available from our DWP Information Line on 0845 7313233) to ensure that people are aware of the benefits to which they may be entitled and how to claim them. In addition DWP's National Partnerships Team works with over 4,400 customer representative organisations, both nationally and locally, to provide a wide range of advice and support for pensioners.
	For contributory pensions, the Department writes to people at the address held on record up to four months before they reach their state pension age explaining their options, including how to claim their state pension or how to defer receiving it until later. State pension can be claimed online, by phone, or by submitting a claim form.
	With respect to income-related benefits, when a customer makes a claim to state pension or reports a change in their circumstances, a customer adviser also discusses a pension credit application with those who may be entitled. There is also a visiting service available to support vulnerable customers who are unable to access services through other channels, such as telephony, post or online. Furthermore, a web-based pension credit toolkit:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/pension-credit-toolkit/
	also provides customer representative organisations with all the information needed to talk to pensioners about pension credit. This includes members of the Age Action Alliance and UK Advisory Forum on Ageing, who work at local level with older people and providers of services to older people. Pensioners can, where eligible, claim housing benefit alongside pension credit in a single phone call, without the need for a signed claim form. Calls to the 0800 claims number from a BT landline or from the six largest mobile phone networks are free.
	With respect to disability benefits, attendance allowance is available to severely disabled people aged 65 and over. Attendance allowance is widely referenced in the information products referred to above, particularly those directed at older people. People receiving disability living allowance or personal independence payment when they reach age 65 or state pension age, whichever is the later, can retain that entitlement rather than being required to claim attendance allowance so long as they continue to meet the entitlement conditions.
	For winter fuel payments, warm home discounts and cold weather payments, in most cases the Department provides automatic payment based on records it already holds.
	Further information on benefits is also available on the Department's website:
	https://www.gov.uk/browse/benefits

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of his Department's civil servants have been seconded to (a) the private sector and (b) trades unions in each year since 2010.

Michael Penning: The records held centrally do not enable us to identify whether the individual is seconded out to a private sector organisation or a trade union. In general secondments out of the Department are usually to local authorities, county councils, educational bodies or charitable organisations.
	Information from payroll records, indicate that as at 20 November 2013 DWP has 66 employees who are currently on an outward secondment that commenced in 2010 or later.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many secondees from (a) trades unions and (b) the voluntary sector have worked in his Department since 2010.

Michael Penning: The information on secondees into DWP is not held centrally therefore we cannot state how many there are. Secondees into DWP from any external organisation do not have a civil service contract and are not paid through the Department’s payroll.

Skilled Workers: Training

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he has taken to provide support and training for those who have been made redundant so that they can return to high skilled occupations.

Esther McVey: The Jobcentre Plus Rapid Response Service provides support to people in a redundancy situation to help them move into alternative work without the need to claim welfare benefits. The support includes advice, guidance and signposting to sources of help relevant to individual circumstances. Where appropriate, funding may be provided by Partners or Jobcentre Plus to enhance transferrable skills aligned to jobs in the local labour market. Partners will vary according to location and the specific requirements of each redundancy situation, but may include: Skills Funding Agency, Skills Development Scotland (Partnership Action for Continuing Employment), Welsh Assembly Government—Redundancy Action Scheme, Acas, HMRC, Money Advice Service, local colleges.

Unemployment

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the total cost to (a) the Exchequer and (b) individuals caused by lost earnings and youth unemployment in (i) each year between 2005 and 2010 and (ii) each region.

Esther McVey: The available information is shown in the following tables. Young people who were unemployed have been classified as people aged under 25 claiming jobseekers allowance. Housing benefit expenditure data split by region are not available prior to 2008-09.
	On this basis the cost to the Exchequer and the cost to individuals is the same.
	Calculating the total cost caused by lost earnings is not possible. This is because it would require making assumptions on salary if the youth were in employment, and assumptions about the circumstances of other members of the benefit unit.
	
		
			 JSA expenditure under 25 
			 £ million, cash terms 
			  2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Total under 25 601 644 590 756 1,185 1,071 
		
	
	
		
			 Government office region       
			 North East 38 40 40 49 71 67 
			 North West 81 90 86 109 164 144 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 59 65 61 81 128 117 
			 East Midlands 41 46 43 57 93 81 
			 West Midlands 71 79 73 91 144 127 
			 East of England 41 45 41 56 88 79 
			 London 94 96 79 88 135 126 
			 South East 48 52 47 66 113 96 
			 South West 31 33 30 44 72' 63 
			 Wales 34 36 35 47 72 64 
			 Scotland 61 61 54 67 105 106 
			 Unknown — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 JSA expenditure under 25 
			 £ million, real terms (2013-14 prices) 
			  2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Total under 25 718 749 670 835 1,290 1,133 
			        
			 Government office region       
			 North East 45 47 46 54 77 70 
			 North West 97 105 98 120 178 153 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 71 76 70 90 139 124 
			 East Midlands 49 54 48 63 101 86 
			 West Midlands 85 92 83 101 157 134 
			 East of England 49 52 47 62 96 84 
			 London 113 11 90 97 147 133 
			 South East 58 61 53 73 123 101 
			 South West 37 39 34 49 79 67 
			 Wales 41 42 40 52 78 67 
			 Scotland 72 71 61 74 115 112 
			 Unknown — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 HB expenditure on JSA claimants under 25 
			 £ million, cash terms 
			  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Total under 25 300 438 461 
			     
			 Government office region    
			 North East 15 20 22 
			 North West 31 46 50 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 26 39 .43 
			 East Midlands 20 30 32 
			 West Midlands 31 45 48 
			 East of England 25 36 38 
			 London 61 83 81 
			 South East 32 51 53 
			 South West 19 31 33 
			 Wales 15 21 22 
			 Scotland 25 36 41 
			 Unknown — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 HB expenditure on JSA claimants under 25 
			 £ million, real terms (2013-14 prices) 
			  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Total under 25 331 476 488 
			     
			 Government office region    
			 North East 16 22 23 
			 North West 34 50 53 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 29 42 46 
			 East Midlands 22 33 34 
		
	
	
		
			 West Midlands 34 49 51 
			 East of England 28 39 40 
			 London 67 90 85 
			 South East 36 55 56 
			 South West 21 34 35 
			 Wales 16 22 23 
			 Scotland 28 40 43 
			 Unknown — — — 
			 Source: DWP Statistical and Accounting Data and statistical data from local authorities

Unemployment: Young People

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the total cost in welfare payments to young people who were unemployed in each region in each year between 2005 and 2010.

Esther McVey: The information requested is shown in the following tables. Young people who were unemployed have been classified as people aged under 25 claiming jobseekers allowance. Housing benefit expenditure data split by region is not available prior to 2008-09.
	
		
			 Nominal (£ million) 
			 Jobseeker's allowance expenditure on under 25s 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Great Britain 601 644 590 756 1,185 1,071 
			        
			 North East 38 40 40 49 71 67 
			 North West 81 90 86 109 164 144 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 59 65 61 81 128 117 
			 East Midlands 41 46 43 57 93 81 
			 West Midlands 71 79 73 91 144 127 
			 East of England 41 45 41 56 88 79 
			 London 94 96 79 88 135 126 
			 South East 48 52 47 66 113 96 
			 South West 31 33 30 44 72 63 
			 Wales 34 36 35 47 72 64 
			 Scotland 61 61 54 67 105 106 
			 Unknown — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 (£ million) 
			  2013/14 prices 
			 Jobseeker's allowance expenditure on under 25s, 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Great Britain 718 749 670 835 1,290 1,133 
			        
			 North East 45 47 46 54 77 70 
			 North West 97 105 98 120 178 153 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 71 76 70 90 139 124 
			 East Midlands 49 54 48 63 101 86 
			 West Midlands 85 92 83 101 157 134 
			 East of England 49 52 47 62 96 84 
			 London 113 11 90 97 147 133 
			 South East 58 61 53 73 123 101 
			 South West 37 39 34 49 79 67 
			 Wales 41 42 40 52 78 67 
			 Scotland 72 71 61 74 115 112 
			 Unknown — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Nominal terms £ million 
			 Housing benefit expenditure on jobseeker's allowance claimants aged under 25, 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Total under 25 300 438 461 
			     
		
	
	
		
			 North East 15 20 22 
			 North West 31 46 50 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 26 39 43 
			 East Midlands 20 30 32 
			 West Midlands 31 45 48 
			 East of England 25 36 38 
			 London 61 83 81 
			 South East 32 51 53 
			 South West 19 31 33 
			 Wales 15 21 22 
			 Scotland 25 36 41 
			 Unknown — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 £ million 
			  2013-14 prices 
			 Housing benefit expenditure on jobseeker's allowance claimants aged under 25 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Total under 25 331 476 488 
			     
			 North East 16 22 23 
			 North West 34 50 53 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 29 42 46 
			 East Midlands 22 33 34 
			 West Midlands 34 49 51 
			 East of England 28 39 40 
			 London 67 90 85 
			 South East 36 55 56 
			 South West 21 34 35 
			 Wales 16 22 23 
			 Scotland 28 40 43 
			 Unknown — — — 
			 Note: Figures do not include other benefits that may be received by jobseeker's allowance claimants aged under 25, such as disability living allowance. Source: DWP Statistical and Accounting Data and Statistical data from local authorities.

Universal Credit

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many hours each week (a) a single parent or (b) a second earner in a couple will have to work at the minimum wage to be eligible for the 85 per cent rate of childcare costs support under universal credit; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: In the 2013 Budget the Government announced its intention to increase childcare support within universal credit in 2016 to provide up to 85% of childcare costs for a household where the lone parent or both parents in a couple are working and paying income tax.
	Once fully rolled out, universal credit will provide support towards the costs of child care for around 500,000 working families. Around 200,000 families would benefit from the proposed introduction of the 85% rate of child care support. It is estimated that a lone parent, or a second earner in a couple, would need to work 31 hours a week at the national minimum wage to be eligible for the 85% rate of child care support under universal credit.
	Notes:
	1. This analysis is based on the current national minimum wage and the income tax personal allowance of £10,000 per year that will be introduced in April 2014.
	2. We have assumed that the lone parent or second earner is aged 21 or over and gets the current national minimum wage rate of £6.31 an hour.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what penalties his Department is able to impose for non-delivery under the contracts of IT suppliers working on the universal credit IT system; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Penning: All the IT being delivered for universal credit is being sourced via robust contracts with IT suppliers. Each of these contracts enables the Department to impose penalties for non-delivery and poor performance. The specific remedies differ according to the terms of each contract, however a range of options is available to the Department, including delay payments for failure to achieve pre-defined delivery milestones, service credits for poor performance against service levels, rights of refund related to failure to meet specific milestones, rights of step-in by the Department or its appointed third party representative (which can be exercised where certain performance or other triggers are met), and ultimately termination rights for breach of contract, where there has been a significant failure to comply with contract obligations.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions his Department has had with the Cabinet Office over implementation of the universal credit IT system; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: The Department and Cabinet Office have many and frequent discussions on the implementation of the universal credit IT system. In particular the Government Digital Service, has played a key role in shaping the delivery of the new digital solution for universal credit and will be supporting the Department in mobilising the right team to develop it further to a full solution.

Winter Fuel Payments

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will revise the eligibility for higher winter fuel payments to allow people turning 80 after 22 September 2014 to receive a higher entitlement.

Steve Webb: Since winter 1999-2000, the qualifying week for winter fuel payments has been set in legislation as the third full week in September. Payment is made according to people's circumstances in that week. We use this date in order to establish entitlement and make payments before Christmas. The process to establish the entitlement of over 12 million pensioners takes six weeks and the first payments, to the poorest pensioners, are sent in early November. Payments continue to be sent through to December.
	The winter fuel payment is a simple to administer scheme. Introducing separate eligibility rules for people age 80 and over would make the scheme more complex. The process of establishing the amount of entitlement in individual cases would delay payments, and add significant expense.

Winter Fuel Payments

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria are currently used to trigger winter fuel payments; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: The main winter fuel payment qualifying conditions are that people must have reached state pension age for women and be ordinarily resident in Great Britain during a legislatively defined qualifying week (the week beginning on the third Monday in September for any year). There is no need to be in receipt of a social security benefit in order to qualify.
	Over 95% of winter fuel payments are made automatically, without the need to claim, based on information held in DWP records. The remaining 5%, primarily men who have reached women's state pension age and who are not getting a DWP-administered benefit, need to make a claim if they want to get a winter fuel payment.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Neighbourhood Policing

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to achieve safer and better policed neighbourhoods; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: This Government has freed the police from central control. By slashing red tape and sweeping away central targets we have empowered chief constables, in association with their Police and Crime Commissioners, to respond to the needs of their communities.
	These reforms are working. Crime is down and victim satisfaction is up.

Animal Experiments

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many animal experiments were conducted in the UK in 2012.

Norman Baker: In 2012 there were 4.1 million (4,110,028) procedures undertaken on animals under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act. Nearly half (48%) of these related to the breeding of genetically modified animals, mainly mice and fish.

Domestic Violence

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the use of legally owned firearms in domestic violence incidents.

Norman Baker: The coalition Government shares concerns about perpetrators of domestic violence legally owning firearms. This is why we have brought in new, detailed guidance for the police on firearms and domestic violence. This guidance makes it clear that evidence of domestic violence will generally indicate that a person should not be permitted to possess a gun.

Organised Crime

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to tackle organised crime.

James Brokenshire: The new National Crime Agency has been operational since October. It has new powers, capabilities and a stronger mandate to lead the fight to cut serious and organised crime. Our new Serious and Organised Crime Strategy focuses on the relentless disruption of organised criminals by bringing the full force of government, law enforcement and our private sector partners to bear.

Visa and Immigration System

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to ensure that the visa and immigration system works in the national interest.

Theresa May: The Government has been working to build an immigration system that works in the national interest, supporting growth, investment and jobs in the UK that will benefit hard-working people, while still deterring those who have no right to be here. We are reforming immigration routes, tackling abuse and improving customer services.

Immigration Offences

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of trends in the number of people arrested for immigration offences.

Mark Harper: Arrests for immigration offences have been increasing since 2010. Trends in arrests do change, mainly related to the types of enforcement activity, rather than identifying specific problems. The rise in arrests reflects the Home Office's intent to use intelligence effectively, taking robust action to target criminals profiting from illegal migration.

Relocation Powers

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department's relocation powers.

James Brokenshire: The TPIMs Act allows subjects to be moved within their local area and to be excluded from particular locations as part of a powerful range of restrictive measures. David Anderson, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, has reported that in terms of security, the TPIM regime continues to provide a high degree of protection.

Kings Science Academy

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will publish the review carried out by Action Fraud in relation to its handling of the reporting to them by her Department of the outcome of its investigation into the Kings Science Academy, Bradford.

James Brokenshire: The National Fraud Authority are taking steps to improve staff awareness and training across the service. In addition to this work, the current audit programmes are under a more detailed review to establish if more audits or call monitoring would be beneficial and whether such activity would be cost effective. I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy in the Library when this work is complete.

Offences Against Children

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when information on Project Spade was passed to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA); and whether SOCA was involved in Project Spade;
	(2)  whether information relating to Project Spade was passed from the Serious Organised Crime Agency to the National Crime Agency;
	(3)  whether any investigation relating to Project Spade is taking place in the UK;
	(4)  whether any suspects implicated by Project Spade are living in the UK;
	(5)  whether any child victims are living in the UK whose status as victim has been revealed to the authorities as a result of Project Spade.

Damian Green: holding answer 27 November 2013
	In July 2012 the Child Exploitation and On-line Protection Centre (CEOP) received information, via Interpol, from the Toronto Police as part of Project SPADE (a Toronto Police investigation into the distribution of child abuse imagery, videos and DVDs).
	The information was not passed to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) as, while CEOP was affiliated to SOCA, it operated independently.
	All the intelligence and information held by CEOP, including in respect of previous investigations involving CEOP, transferred to the National Crime Agency (NCA) on 7 October.
	Responsibility for such matters now rests with the NCA.
	The NCA CEOP Command has undertaken additional assessment of the data provided by the Canadians and information was provided to police forces on 26 November 2013.
	As the enquiries are ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment on suspects or victims linked to this investigation.

Organised Crime: Currencies

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions the National Crime Agency has had with (a) HM Treasury and (b) the Financial Conduct Authority about the potential use of distributed virtual currencies for serious and organised crime.

James Brokenshire: The potential criminal use of virtual currencies is highlighted for action in the new Serious and Organised Crime Strategy and is an issue which the National Crime Agency (NCA) is taking seriously. The Economic Crime Command (ECC) within the NCA is in discussions with a range of partners—both in the UK and overseas, including HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority—on the criminal use of virtual currencies and work to tackle it.

Police: Information

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance she has issued on the repeat issuing of police information notices to the same person on the basis of similar allegations.

Damian Green: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 12 November 2013, Official Report, column 547W.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Ministers' Private Offices

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he (a) has appointed or (b) intends to appoint an enlarged ministerial office.

Nicholas Clegg: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 28 November 2013, Official Report, column 398W.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Crown Prosecution Service

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General whether he plans restrictions on the power of the CPS to dispose of an offence, whether summary, indictable-only or triable either way, with a simple caution.

Oliver Heald: The recent review of simple cautions published by the Ministry of Justice on 14 November 2013 reinforced the need for the police to refer any decision to issue a simple caution for an indictable only offence to the CPS.
	The police may make the decision to offer a simple caution for any summary only offence or either way offence without reference to the CPS.

Harassment: Prosecutions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many cases of harassment have been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service by the police in each of the past seven years.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains no central record of the number of cases of harassment referred to it for a charging decision. This information could be obtained only by examining all of the files sent to the CPS for charging advice, which would incur disproportionate cost.

Policing and Crime Act 2009

Helen Jones: To ask the Attorney-General how many people have been (a) arrested, (b) charged and (c) convicted under Section 14 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 in each year since the Act came into force.

Oliver Heald: The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identify the number of offences, in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in magistrates courts, rather than the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted. A single defendant may be prosecuted for multiple offences.
	Section 14 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 inserted a new offence of paying for the sexual services of a prostitute who had been subjected to force, under section 53A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The following table shows the number of these offences charged and reaching a first hearing in each of the last three years since the Act came into force.
	
		
			  Offences 
			 2010-11 40 
			 2011-12 7 
			 2012-13 8 
		
	
	The CPS does not hold a record of the number of people arrested for this offence. The official statistics on crime and policing are maintained by the Home Office.

Protection From Harassment Act 1997

Helen Jones: To ask the Attorney-General how many Crown prosecutors have received training on sections 2 and 4 of the Protection From Harassment Act 1997.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has developed an online e-Learning course on cyber stalking which was launched in September 2012 and includes training on the relevant offences and their identification, as well as covering other issues which may arise in the prosecution of stalking cases. The course was refreshed in June 2013 and has been completed by 1,472 CPS employees to date.
	The CPS is currently developing further training on the relevant offences, with emphasis on building a strong case, working closely with the police and engaging with victims throughout the legal process.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Attorney-General 
	(1)  how many of the Law Officers' Departments civil servants have been seconded to (a) the private sector and (b) trades unions in each year since 2010;
	(2)  how many secondees from (a) trades unions and (b) the voluntary sector have worked in the Law Officers' Departments since 2010.

Oliver Heald: Since 2010 only the Crown Prosecution Service has seconded employees to (a) the private sector. No staff have been seconded to a trade union. Details on these secondees are contained in the following table.
	
		
			  Name of company seconded to Number of outward secondees 
			 2011-12 LOCOG1 6 
			 2012 LOCOG1 2 
			 2010-15 Road Safety Support Ltd (ACPO Affiliation) 1 
			 1 London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 
		
	
	Two staff members in the Treasury Solicitor's Department have also been seconded out of the UK civil service since 2010; one to a public corporation from December 2008 to August 2011, and one to a charity in the voluntary sector from September 2008 to August 2013.
	During this same period the Law Officers' Departments have had no external secondees from either trade unions or the voluntary sector.

Sentencing

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Attorney-General if he will make an assessment of the reasons for which unduly lenient sentences are handed down.

Oliver Heald: In broad terms, the test that is applied in all cases is whether the sentence falls outside the range which a judge, taking into account all relevant considerations, could reasonably consider appropriate and is a gross error.
	In the last year for which figures are available 88 cases were sent by the Attorney-General and I to the Court of Appeal. Leave to refer as unduly lenient was granted in 73 cases. The sentence was quashed and an increased sentence passed in 62 cases.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Africa

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Investment Climate Facility for Africa; and what her policy is on creating a similar programme for other continents.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID conducted an Annual Review of the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF) in 2013 and assessed that the ICF was performing well and on track to meet its targets for 2014, the final year of its current phase. The Annual Review found that 90% of partner Governments were satisfied with the quality, speed and results of ICF projects.
	At this point, DFID has no plans to establish an Investment Climate Facility for Asia or other continents. However, DFID does fund a portfolio of programmes that work at the national level to improve the investment climate. In South Asia, for example, DFID supports the Bangladesh Investment Climate Facility, the Nepal Investment Climate Reform Programme, and the Pakistan Alternative Dispute Resolution Project. These programmes work with national partners to support legal, regulatory and institutional reforms that reduce the costs of doing business in these countries, in turn generating much needed investment and jobs.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and what impact the ceasefire has had on the humanitarian situation.

Lynne Featherstone: The M23 leadership announced a cessation of violence on 5 November, but no formal ceasefire was agreed during talks in Kampala. The military defeat of M23 should therefore be greeted with cautious optimism. The Kampala process needs to be brought to a successful conclusion. All signatories to the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework need to ensure its effective implementation to address the causes of conflict, thereby bringing sustained peace. We continue to monitor the humanitarian situation in North Kivu with concern. Armed groups remain active in parts of the province and challenges remain to resolve the humanitarian situation.

Developing Countries: Rape

Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department takes to ensure that non-discriminatory healthcare is provided to survivors of rape in conflict.

Lynne Featherstone: In conflict situations UK-funded medical care is provided through humanitarian organisations. These organisations work according to humanitarian principles including the provision of non-discriminatory aid, provided according to need alone.

Ministers' Private Offices

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether she (a) has appointed or (b) intends to appoint an enlarged ministerial office.

Justine Greening: I refer my hon. Friend to the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude)’s answer of 28 November 2013, Official Report, column 398W.

Pakistan

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support her Department gives to the promotion of animal welfare in Pakistan.

Justine Greening: The UK Government supports the proposed Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW) as an important means of raising awareness of this issue.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many of her Department's civil servants have been seconded to (a) the private sector and (b) trades unions in each year since 2010.

Alan Duncan: Since 2010 there has been one outward secondment to the private sector and none to trade unions.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many secondees from (a) trades unions and (b) the voluntary sector have worked in her Department since 2010.

Alan Duncan: Since 2010 there have been five such secondees from the voluntary sector and none from trade unions.

CABINET OFFICE

Defence: Procurement

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what external advice was sought by his Department during the drafting of the joint report to the Secretary of State for Defence on the Viability of the Materiel Strategy Procurement.

Nick Hurd: The review was conducted by a Crown Commercial Lead in the Cabinet Office, and Commercial Operations Director in the Ministry of Defence, both of whom have external commercial backgrounds.
	The reviewers consulted widely among parties involved in the GoCo procurement and the Ministry of Defence's operations.

ICT

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people are employed within centralised IT departments or teams in his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: As part of the transparency agenda, my Department publishes an organogram and structure charts twice each year. The latest organogram may be viewed at:
	http://data.gov.uk/organogram/cabinet-office
	and structure charts, where you will find more detailed information on junior posts, are available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-staff-and-salary-data-as-at-31-march-2013
	The organogram and structure charts will next be updated in December 2013.

Immigrants

John Denham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will estimate the number of migrants into each English region since 2004 from (a) other English regions and other parts of the UK, (b) the EU and (c) outside the EU.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated November 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will estimate-the number of migrants into each English region since 2004 from (a) other English regions and other parts of the UK, (b) the EU and (c) outside the EU.
	The tables provide estimates for the years ending June 2004 to June 2012.
	With regards to the number of migrants into each English region from other English regions and other countries within the UK, estimates are derived from the National Health Service Central Register administrative data.
	With regards to the number of long-term migrants into each English region from the EU and from outside the EU, estimates are derived from International Passenger Survey (IPS) data. The IPS is a continuous voluntary sample survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics and therefore is subject to sampling variability. This is shown in the tables by confidence intervals.
	Confidence intervals provide an estimated range within which the true value of a population is likely to fall. The confidence intervals around the IPS estimates in the table are 95 per cent confidence intervals; this means that this range is expected to contain the true value of the number of migrants around 95 per cent of the time. Caution should be exercised when using an estimate which has a large confidence interval.
	A copy of the table will be placed in the Library of the House.

Local Government

Frank Field: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of people employed by private and voluntary sector providers of local government services in the UK.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Caron Walker, dated November 2013
	On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of people employed by private and voluntary sector providers of local government services in the UK. 179195.
	ONS does not hold this information.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many of his Department's civil servants have been seconded to (a) the private sector and (b) trades unions in each year since 2010;
	(2)  how many of his Office's civil servants have been seconded to (a) the private sector and (b) trades unions in each year since 2010;
	(3)  how many of No. 10 Downing Street's civil servants have been seconded to (a) the private sector and (b) trades unions in each year since 2010;
	(4)  how many secondees from (a) trades unions and (b) the voluntary sector have worked in his Department since 2010;
	(5)  how many secondees from (a) trades unions and (b) the voluntary sector have worked in his Office since 2010;
	(6)  how many secondees from (a) trades unions and (b) the voluntary sector have worked in No. 10 Downing Street since 2010.

Francis Maude: The Prime Minister's Office and Deputy Prime Minister's Office are an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
	Five or fewer civil servants in my Department have been seconded to the private sector in each year since 2010, and none have been seconded to trade unions.
	In line with the practice of previous Administrations exact numbers are not usually disclosed to protect individual privacy when the numbers are five or fewer.
	Since 2010, my Department has employed no secondees from trade unions and nine from the voluntary sector.
	The Cabinet Office secondment and interchange policy encourages individuals from outside the civil service to bring expertise, knowledge and skills generally unavailable within the civil service for a set period of time, providing an opportunity for knowledge transfer. I would like to see the number of secondments increase.

EDUCATION

Adult Education: Carers

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to help young adult carers continue their education;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the ability of (a) schools and (b) local authorities to identify young adult carers; and what assessment he has made of the support available for young adult carers.

Edward Timpson: The Government is committed to protecting young people from excessive or inappropriate caring roles that could impact on their own health, education or well-being.
	Evidence from the National Young Carers’ Coalition suggests that only around a third of identified young carers undergo any local authority assessment and only a third of those then get sufficient support to address their needs. As part of the Children and Families Bill the Government has put forward a clause that will make it easier for young carers to get an assessment. Local authorities will have to carry out an assessment of a young carer's needs for support—on request or on the appearance of need.
	We are also joining up a young carer's support with the assessment of adults being introduced under provisions in the Care Bill. Our aim is to ensure that the support needs of the person being cared for are met. The provision of these services will protect young carers from having to undertake or continue in a potentially harmful caring role.
	On school identification of young carers, the picture is mixed. There are some excellent examples of good practice in schools, such as having a nominated lead teacher. However, we know that good practice is not universal. That's why the Department for Education has worked with the Children's Society and the Carers Trust since 2011 to share existing tools and good practice, including an e-learning module for school staff that we developed to increase awareness in schools of young carers' issues. The Department of Health has recently started training school nurses to be champions for young carers. They will speak up on their behalf and help head teachers and governors decide how best to support them at school.
	As part of the Children and Families Bill and the Care Bill we are also strengthening the legislative framework on duties to support young carers with their transition into adulthood, so that they can continue to access the support they need to have good health and educational outcomes.

Bristol University

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he will release the data requested by the university of Bristol in their Freedom of Information request of 6 June 2013 which was used in the document, A comparison of GCSE results and AS level results as a predictor of getting a 2.1 or above at university which was published in May 2013.

Elizabeth Truss: The Secretary of State for Education has no express legal powers to share individual student data owned by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), unless work is being done directly on behalf of the Department.
	Officials are working with colleagues in the HESA and Higher Education Funding Council for England on a solution that will open up access to this data and enable independent third parties, such as the university of Bristol, to apply for access. Our current plans are to launch this service in due course.

Children: Hyperactivity

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effects of attention deficit disorders on educational attainment.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education makes no specific assessment of the effects of attention deficit disorders on educational attainment but we publish extensive information on special educational needs (SEN) annually.
	Pupils can face multiple issues. We are currently consulting on a new SEN Code of Practice. This makes it clear that schools should seek to identify underlying causes for behaviour problems, including any attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, in deciding what SEN provision to put in place, working with families and, where necessary, specialists to identify desired outcomes and appropriate interventions.

Priority School Building Programme

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will meet the hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland and representatives of Handale Primary School to discuss the Priority School Building Programme.

David Laws: Yes.

Priority School Building Programme

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which schools were (a) initially informed they would and (b) subsequently informed they would not receive funding for under three provision from the Priority School Building Programme by the Education Funding Agency. [Official Report, 10 December 2013, Vol. 572, c. 2MC.]

David Laws: I am not aware of any school that has been informed that they would receive funding for under three provision from the Priority Schools Building Programme. However, we have allocated £200 million to local authorities for this specific purpose, and we expect them to contribute a proportion of this funding where they wish to provide under three places.

Priority School Building Programme

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) free schools, (b) academies and (c) maintained schools will receive funding from the Priority School Building Programme; and what total funding each such category of school will be allocated under this programme.

David Laws: 261 schools were successful in their applications to the Priority School Building Programme (PSBP) and a full list is available on the Department's website.
	In the PSBP there are 62 academies; 199 community, foundation, voluntary aided and voluntary controlled schools; and no free schools.
	These figures are accurate as of 22 November 2013. It should be noted that when some of these schools applied they were not academies—they have since converted to academy status.
	We cannot currently provide the total funding that each of the categories will be allocated under this programme. A feasibility study is carried out at each of the 261 schools in order to define exact costings and this process has not yet been completed on all schools.

Science: Education

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are in place for organisations who have received funding from his Department for education and outreach in science, technology, engineering and mathematics;
	(2)  what monitoring his Department undertakes of awareness in schools of projects promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics and their engagement with such projects;
	(3)  which organisations have received funding from his Department for education and outreach in science, technology, engineering and mathematics in each of the last three years.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department monitors and evaluates the performance of projects through regular contract or grant management meetings. The regularity of the meetings varies according to need. Certain contracts include provision for independent evaluation, where deemed appropriate and proportionate.
	Contract and grant managers ensure that the reports provided by the organisations give clear indications of the involvement of schools, evaluations of the impact of their projects and any other relevant information, such as responses to questionnaires.
	The Department also has regular meetings with representatives of relevant bodies, such as Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI), the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM), Science Community Representing Education (SCORE), the National Science Learning Centre and STEM NET, where the engagement of schools is discussed.
	The following organisations have received funding from the Department for Education in respect of Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics education and outreach in the last three years:
	Science/Technology/Engineering
	2011-12
	British Computer Society
	British Science Association
	The Design and Technology Association (DATA)
	Engineering UK
	Institute of Physics
	The Meteorological Office
	Myscience.co Ltd
	Royal Academy of Engineering
	The Royal Society
	Smallpeice Trust
	STEMnet
	2012-13
	British Computer Society
	British Science Association
	The Design and Technology Association (DATA)
	Engineering UK
	Institute of Physics
	The Meteorological Office
	Myscience.co Ltd
	The Open University
	Prolog
	Royal Academy of Engineering
	The Royal Society
	STEMnet
	University of Cambridge
	2013-14
	Bloodhound SSC
	British Computer Society
	British Interplanetary Society
	British Science Association
	Engineering UK
	Institute of Physics
	Janet Network
	The Meteorological Office
	Myscience.co Ltd
	Royal Academy of Engineering
	The Royal Institution
	The Royal Society
	STEMnet
	University of Cambridge
	Maths
	2011-12
	Edge Hill University
	Institute for Education
	Manchester Metropolitan University
	Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI)
	The Open University
	Sheffield Hallam University
	Think Tank Mathematics
	Tribal
	The University of Brighton
	The University of Northampton
	The University of Winchester
	2012-13
	Edge Hill University
	Imperial College
	Institute for Education
	Manchester Metropolitan University
	Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI)
	National Foundation for Educational Research (NfER)
	The Open University
	Sheffield Hallam University
	Tribal
	The University of Brighton
	The University of Northampton
	The University of Winchester
	2013-14
	Imperial College
	Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI)
	Tribal
	United Kingdom Mathematics Trust
	University of Cambridge

Social Services: Birmingham

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he expects to make an announcement on the future management of Birmingham Children's Services.

Edward Timpson: I wrote to the leader of Birmingham city council, Sir Albert Bore, on 29 November. This letter has been published on the Department's website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/262416/Letter_to_Sir_Albert_Bore_-_29.11.pdf

Teachers: Trade Unions

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what meetings he has planned with representatives of teaching trades unions relating to their grievances following his recent correspondence with them.

David Laws: The Secretary of State for Education is meeting organisations representing the teaching profession in December. This is the first meeting in a programme of talks to discuss implementation of education policy. He has invited the general secretaries of the NUT, the NASUWT and UCAC—teaching unions which are in dispute with him, to attend this programme of talks, among others.

Teachers: Trade Unions

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will publish all recent correspondence with teaching trades unions and the NUT and NASUWT.

David Laws: The recent letters of the Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), to the NUT and NASUWT have been published in the House Library.

Teachers: Trade Unions

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will meet the NUT and NASUWT as part of an attempted dispute resolution.

David Laws: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has invited the General Secretaries of the NUT and the NASUWT to attend a programme of talks about the implementation of education policy, including in those areas covered by their trade disputes.

Teachers: Trade Unions

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to resolve outstanding industrial disputes with the NASUWT and the NUT.

David Laws: The Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) has invited the General Secretaries of the NUT and the NASUWT to attend a programme of talks about the implementation of education policy, including in those areas covered by their trade disputes.

Teachers: Trade Unions

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education by what date he expects to have resolved outstanding industrial disputes with the NASUWT and NUT.

David Laws: The Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) has invited the General Secretaries of the NUT and the NASUWT to attend a programme of talks about the implementation of education policy, including in those areas covered by their trade disputes.
	The programme of talks will begin in December.

Teachers: Training

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of trainee teachers who are in (a) the School Direct programme and (b) tertiary institutions are from a Black and minority ethnic community.

David Laws: Provisional data on new entrants to initial teacher training programmes in the academic year 2013-14 were published in a statistical first release (49/2013)—the initial teacher training census for the academic year 2013-14. The ethnicity breakdown of new entrants can be found in the following table and is available online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-trainee-number-census-2013-to-2014
	
		
			 Table A4: Initial teacher training new entrants (provisional as at 13 November 2013)—Ethnicity breakdown of new entrants1,2,3. Coverage: England. Academic year: 2013-14 
			 Percentage 
			 Ethnicity breakdown of new entrants on initial teacher training programmes Provider led School direct (Fee) School direct (Salary) Total 
			 Black and minority ethnic (BME) entrants on ITT programmes 12 9 10 12 
			 Non-BME entrants on ITT programmes 88 91 90 88 
			 Total 100 100 100 100 
			 Notes: 1. Percentages for 2013-14 are based on data about actual new entrants at the time of the census, and are provisional and subject to change. 2. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole percentage, and summed percentages are derived from the unrounded components. 3. Teach First are excluded. Source: NCTL Initial Teacher Training Census

HEALTH

Accident and Emergency Departments

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of patients waited longer than the target for admission to accident and emergency in each English region in the most recent month for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison: Data on performance against the operational standard that 95% of patients attending accident and emergency (A&E) should be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of their arrival in an A&E department, are collected and published on a weekly basis, by NHS England. Monthly figures are not available. NHS England publishes aggregate figures for the four NHS Commissioning Regions.
	The following table shows performance against the operational standard by NHS Commissioning Regions for the five week period between the week ending 6 October 2013 and the week ending 3 November 2013.
	
		
			  Performance for the period between week ending 6 October 2013 and week ending 3 November 2013 
			 NHS Commissioning Region Number of attendances at A&E Number of patients who waited more than four hours Proportion of patients who waited more than four hours (percentage) 
			 North of England 620,627 24,595 4.0 
			 Midlands and East of England 569,572 25,325 4.4 
		
	
	
		
			 London 425,970 21,374 5.0 
			 South of England 436,635 16,915 3.9 
			 Source: NHS England weekly A&E sitreps.

Care Homes: Abuse

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to tackle abuse by carers employed within the home setting to care for people with disabilities or the elderly;
	(2)  what procedures his Department has put in place to monitor abuse by carers employed within the home setting, caring for people with disabilities or the elderly;
	(3)  what information his Department holds on the incidence of abuse by carers employed within the home setting, caring for people with disabilities or the elderly.

Norman Lamb: The Government is committed to protecting people from abuse and neglect. Our policy objective is to prevent and reduce the risk of harm to adults with care and support needs from abuse, neglect or other types of exploitation, while supporting them to maintain control over their lives and to make informed choices without coercion.
	We are strengthening the Care Quality Commission's (CQCs) regulatory function. The new chief inspector of Adult Social Care, Andrea Sutcliffe, will have widespread powers to take firm action on poor care and to hold both councils and providers to account for the quality of services, including the possibility of prosecution. The Care Bill will also give the CQC the power to publish performance ratings on the quality of social care provision, which will give the public a clear and simple way of determining which providers are offering the best services.
	Since 2010, all councils with adult social services responsibilities have been required to submit Abuse of Vulnerable Adults returns to the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). This is a mandatory data collection, which records safeguarding activity relating to vulnerable adults aged 18 and over in England and includes information about the volume of safeguarding activity taking place, the characteristics of adults who may be at risk of harm and the locations in which alleged abuse has taken place. It is intended to provide information which can assist stakeholders in recognising and preventing future harm. The most recent report, which presents provisional data for 2012-13, is available on the HSCIC website at:
	www.hscic.gov.uk/pubs/abuseva1213prov
	Measures need to be in place locally to protect those who may not be able to protect themselves. The Care Bill places the establishment of Safeguarding Adults Boards on a statutory footing, to ensure that local authorities, the NHS and police, together with any other agency that may be appropriate, work together to develop and implement adult safeguarding strategies.
	The Bill also places Safeguarding Adults Reviews on a statutory footing for the first time. If abuse or neglect does take place, it is essential that the relevant professionals and organisations involved in the case improve future practice and minimise the possibility of it happening again. Conducting safeguarding adult reviews in serious cases will help ensure lessons are learned and applied and better equip local agencies with care and support functions to prevent abuse and to respond should it occur.

Care Homes: Abuse

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Government's forthcoming legislative proposals to reform the care sector will ensure that procedures are put in place to protect people with disabilities or the elderly from abuse by carers employed not through a statutory body or an agency but directly by the person cared for.

Norman Lamb: The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is designed to help employers make safer, more informed recruitment decisions. It also prevents unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups through its criminal record checking and barring functions. Under current legislation, individuals employing people directly are not entitled to ask for a standard or enhanced DBS check about the carers they hire. The Government is aware that measures need to be put in place to ensure the safety of individuals who employ carers directly.
	Self-employed individuals could obtain a DBS check by registering with an agency under which they would then be contracted, or by ‘porting’ their DBS certificate from other employment or voluntary work.
	Responsibility for the legislation which defines whether individuals are able to request a person to reveal their full criminal history, rests with the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May).

Chlamydia

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking with the devolved Administrations to agree a screening programme for Chlamydia.

Jane Ellison: The National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP) has operated in England since 2003. To date, the NCSP has delivered around 7.5 million tests, diagnosing over 470,000 infections in young adults (15 to 24 years old).
	Policy on the provision of health services including Chlamydia screening is a matter for the individual devolved Administrations who decide what works best for their particular populations. The Department is not currently working with the devolved Administration on Chlamydia screening.

Eyesight: Injuries

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many instances of eye injury inflicted by laser pens have been recorded in the last five years.

Norman Lamb: This data is not collected as part of Hospital Episode Statistics.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many (a) women have received transvaginal mesh implants, (b) women had transvaginal mesh removed and (c) adverse reports relating to transvaginal mesh implants were recorded in each year since 2005;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the prevalence and severity of complications resulting from transvaginal mesh implants;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of voluntary reporting of complications relating to transvaginal mesh implants; and what his policy is on the introduction of mandatory reporting.

Norman Lamb: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the following tables.
	
		
			 Finished consultant episodes for women who have received a primary or secondary operative procedure for the insertion of transvaginal mesh, transobturator tape, transvaginal slings and transvaginal tape 
			 Procedure 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Insertion of transvaginal mesh — 222 1,515 1,827 1,849 .1,636 1,524 1,310 
			 Insertion of transobturator tape — 2,580 5,045 5,750 5,569 5,426 4,885 4,476 
			 Insertion of transvaginal sling 279 277 210 151 141 130 134 135 
			 Insertion of transvaginal tape — 6,137 8,817 8,503 8,397 8,087 8,172 7,627 
			 Note: Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre 
		
	
	
		
			 Finished consultant episodes for women with a primary or secondary operative procedure for the removal of transobturator tape and transvaginal tape 
			 Procedure 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Removal of transobturator tape — 68 79 96 128 95 96 124 
			 Removal of transvaginal tape — 287 417 506 475 508 565 581 
			 Notes: 1. Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 2. There is no clinical coding available for the removal of Transvaginal Mesh or Transvaginal Slings. 3. The Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre 
		
	
	Adverse events that have been reported to Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) since 2005 concerning vaginal tape and mesh implants are as follows:
	
		
			  Vaginal tapes for stress urinary incontinence Vaginal mesh for pelvic organ prolapse Vaginal mesh for unknown indication1 Total 
			 2005 9 0 0 9 
			 2006 25 1 0 26 
			 2007 3 2 0 5 
			 2008 10 3 0 13 
			 2009 9 3 0 12 
			 2010 38 4 0 42 
			 2011 38 13 3 54 
			 2012 58 38 2 98 
			 Up to June 2013 37 23 2 62 
			 1 The reporter did not provide enough information on what type of mesh it was. 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of patient safety incidents relating to mesh used in gynaecological procedures reported to the National Reporting and Learning System (year of occurrence by reported degree of harm) 
			  No harm Low Moderate Total 
			 2006 2 0 0 2 
			 2007 1 0 0 1 
			 2008 1 0 1 2 
			 2009 1 2 0 3 
			 2010 1 2 6 9 
			 2011 0 2 4 6 
			 2012 7 4 3 14 
			 2013 4 1 1 6 
			 Total 17 11 15 43 
			 Source: NHS England 
		
	
	The MHRA's current view is that for the vast majority of women, mesh and tape implants are a safe and effective operation, but as with all surgery, there is an element of risk. While a small number of women have experienced distressing and severe effects, the current evidence shows that when these products are used correctly they can help with the very distressing symptoms of these conditions and as such the benefits still outweigh the risks.
	The Department is currently engaged in work to assess the effectiveness of the existing arrangements for reporting complications relating to transvaginal mesh implants. NHS England is facilitating this work, which also involves the MHRA, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the relevant professional societies (British Society of Urogynaecology and British Association of Urological Surgeons).
	The MHRA continues to encourage voluntary reporting of adverse incidents from all health care workers, as well as carers, patients and members of the public, although we acknowledge that there is considerable under reporting of complications. There are currently no plans in place to introduce mandatory reporting of medical device adverse incidents by health care professionals, however the situation is under constant review to ensure that appropriate systems are in place to facilitate the reporting of adverse incidents from all sources.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total number of surgeons trained to remove transvaginal mesh implants is.

Norman Lamb: This information is not held centrally.
	The content and standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council informed by the relevant Medical Royal College.
	Where additional training is required for individual posts it is delivered by continuing professional development (CPD). CPD is the responsibility of individual practitioners and their employers.

Health Services: Greater London

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health services in each London borough have achieved “You're Welcome” accreditation.

Norman Lamb: The Department does not keep a record of health services that have achieved the You're Welcome standard.

Malnutrition: Bradford

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the reasons are for the changes in the number of inpatient diagnoses of primary or secondary malnutrition in Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust between (a) 2008 and 2010 and (b) 2010 and 2013.

Norman Lamb: This information is not collected centrally.

Maternity Services

Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of progress made by his Department in implementing the (a) four national choice guarantees and (b) other policies set out in its publication, Maternity Matters: choice, access and continuity of care in a safe service;
	(2)  with reference to his Department’s publication, Maternity Matters: choice, access and continuity of care in a safe service, published in April 2007, what changes have been made to the roles and responsibilities set out in part four of that publication following the implementation of the reforms under the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

Norman Lamb: It is for the national health service locally to determine how best to implement the commitments set out in Maternity Matters. Prior to April 2013, strategic health authorities (SHAs) were responsible for performance managing primary care trusts (PCTs). At the end of 2009, SHAs reported that 99% of PCTs were able to offer women a choice of how to access maternity care, a choice of the type of antenatal care, choice of place of birth and 92% of PCTs were able to offer choice of place of postnatal care.
	The National Audit Office recently conducted a value for money audit of maternity services. Its report, “Maternity Services in England”, published in November 2013, assessed progress against the Maternity Matters commitments and highlighted improvements and identified areas where further progress is needed.
	In the reformed health and care system, the Department, as system steward, has set national priorities for maternity services in the mandates for NHS England and Health Education England (HEE), and in the NHS and Public Health Outcomes Frameworks. NHS England and HEE are required to provide assurances to the Department against the delivery of these priorities.
	Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning, maternity services. NHS England provides guidance to CCGs on the commissioning of high quality maternity services in line with the policy framework set by the Department.
	Information on the roles and responsibilities in the new system following the reforms instituted under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 can be found in the Department's publication “The Health and Care System Explained”. It is available at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-health-and-care-system-explained/the-health-and-care-system-explained

Mental Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 25 November 2013, Official Report, column 152W, on mental health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the recent publications that have considered the effect of the economic downturn on mental health and well-being; and whether that consideration has led to any changes in policy;
	(2)  what additional resources he has allocated to deal with the mental ill health that has resulted from the economic downturn;
	(3)  if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's most recent research and publications on the effect of the economic downturn on mental ill health.

Norman Lamb: The Department has not made any assessment of recent publications on the effect of the economic downturn on mental health.
	Mental health and wellbeing is a priority for this Government. We have made improving mental health, and treating mental illness, a key priority for NHS England.
	Public Health England are currently working with stakeholders to develop their work plan and priorities, which will include promoting the public's mental health, preventing mental illness and suicide, and improving the health and wellbeing of people living with mental health problems.

Mental Health Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the per capita spend on mental health services in West Sussex has been in each of the last five years; and how this spend compares to the national average in that period;
	(2)  what the per capita breakdown of spending on mental health services in each local authority area has been in each of the last five years.

Norman Lamb: Information is not available in the format requested. The following tables provide information on reported investment in mental health services covering the areas requested. Prior to 2013-14, primary care trusts (PCT) were responsible for commissioning services to meet the health care needs of their local populations, taking account of national and local priorities.
	
		
			 Reported investment for working age adults—England 
			 £000 
			  Total reported investment 
			  2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 
			 Total 6,628,570.71 6,550,146.26 6,001,114.96 5,849,105.67 5,512,262.49 
		
	
	
		
			 Reported investment for working age adults—West Sussex Primary Care Trust 
			 £000 
			  Total reported investment 
			  2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 
			 Total 65,277.85 73,904.80 68,618.22 65,725.50 58,304.54 
		
	
	
		
			 Reported investment per head of weighted adult population for England 
			 £ 
			  2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 
			 England average 198.3 195.9 193.4 181.0 169.47 
			 Source: National Survey of Investment in Adult Mental Health Services, Mental Health Strategies 2011-12. Report of National Survey of Investment in Adult Mental Health Services, Mental Health Strategies 2011-12. Report of National Survey of Investment in Adult Mental Health Services, Mental Health Strategies 2010-11. Report of National Survey of Investment in Adult Mental Health Services, Mental Health Strategies 2009-10. Report of National Survey of Investment in Adult Mental Health Services, Mental Health Strategies 2008-09. Report of National Survey of Investment in Adult Mental Health Services, Mental Health Strategies 2007-08. 
		
	
	We do not collect information centrally on per capita breakdown of spending on mental health services in each local authority area.

Nutrition: Low Incomes

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department takes to monitor low-income households' dietary habits and ability to eat healthily;
	(2)  what steps his Department takes to monitor low-income households' dietary habits and ability to eat healthily.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England, in partnership with Health Departments across the United Kingdom, monitors the food consumption and nutrient intakes of the general population using data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS)(1). Further results from the ongoing survey programme are due to be published in early 2014, building on the previous report published in July 2012. These will include an analysis of findings by equivalised income. Results from the NDNS are reviewed by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition.
	(1) Bates B, Lennox A, Prentice A, Bates C, and Swan G (Eds.) (2012) National Diet and Nutrition Survey. Headline results from Years 1, 2 and 3 (combined) of the rolling programme (2008-09 to 2010-11).

Prescriptions

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on negotiations between NHS employers and the British Medical Association on the reimbursement system for drugs dispensed by doctors; and when he expects these negotiations to be completed.

Norman Lamb: Responsibility for agreeing the reimbursement for drugs sits with NHS England. Acting on behalf of NHS England, NHS Employers have established together with the British Medical Association's (BMA) General Practitioners Committee, a technical group to consider the issue of the reimbursement system for drugs dispensed by doctors, rather than at pharmacies. This work is at an early stage. Once complete it will be for the BMA and NHS Employers to negotiate any changes to the current arrangements.

Prescriptions

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons patients who want to continue to have prescription drugs dispensed by their local GP cannot use the Electronic Prescription Service; and what steps his Department plans to take to change those arrangements for patients in rural areas.

Norman Lamb: The National Health Service Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Service Regulations 2013 make provision for dispensing general practitioner practices to use the Electronic Prescription Service for their dispensing patients. However, we understand that wide-scale adoption is limited due to implementation issues. These should be explored with NHS England, which is responsible for the Electronic Prescription Service and commissioning NHS primary care services.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2013, Official Report, column 1010W, on secondment, what estimate he has made of the cost of collecting data on the number of private sector secondees for his Department.

Norman Lamb: The estimated cost of collecting data on the number of private sector secondees for the Department is £5,425.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of his Department's civil servants have been seconded to (a) the private sector and (b) trades unions in each year since 2010.

Norman Lamb: Five or fewer individuals have been seconded from the Department to the private sector since 2010; none are seconded to the private sector at present.
	The Department's trade union side confirm that no civil servants have been seconded out to any trade union since 2010.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many secondees from (a) trades unions and (b) the voluntary sector have worked in his Department since 2010.

Norman Lamb: The Department does not hold information centrally about the organisations from which it seconds individuals. Gathering that information could be done only at disproportionate cost.
	The departmental trade union side have, however, confirmed that no individuals have been seconded in to the Department from any trade union since 2010.

Social Workers: Training

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of potential shortfalls in placements available for social work students to work in NHS settings in the next year; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many placements were available for social work students to work in an NHS setting in each of the last three years.

Norman Lamb: It is the responsibility of higher education institutions (HEIs), in partnership with employers, to determine the size of the student intake for social work qualifying courses. As part of that decision making process, HEIs will need to consider the number and availability of placement days required. Placements can take place at any social work employer including the national health service, local authorities and private and voluntary organisations. Government provides a contribution to the costs of employers hosting a placement through the education support grant. We are currently consulting on the resource allocation formula for the education support grant.
	It is estimated that there were 22,500 social work practice placements in the NHS in the 2011-12 academic year. Data are not yet available for the current academic year.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Council Housing: Hampshire

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many people (a) are currently on the housing waiting list and (b) have been on a housing waiting list for over two years in (i) Hart district council area, (ii) Rushmoor borough council area and (iii) Basingstoke and Deane borough council area;
	(2)  how many people (a) are currently on the housing waiting list and (b) have been on that list for over two years in (i) Test Valley borough council area and (ii) New Forest district council area.

Kris Hopkins: The latest statistics on housing waiting lists by local authority, for 1 April 2012, can be found in Table 600 on the Government's website here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-rents-lettings-and-tenancies
	They show the number of households, rather than people, on waiting lists. Information on the number of these which have been on the waiting list for two years is not available.
	Local authorities sometimes maintain a common waiting list with housing associations in their area. However, no information is available where a housing association maintains a separate waiting list to the local authority. Also local authorities may review their lists from time to time which can reduce the list greatly whereas other local authorities may not have reviewed their list. These issues with the data mean comparisons between authorities' housing waiting lists can be misleading.
	The Department will be publishing statistics for 1 April 2013 on 19 December 2013 in the Local Authority Housing Statistics release.
	The Localism Act has given back to local authorities the freedom to decide who qualifies to go onto their housing waiting list.

Disabled Facilities Grants

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average amount is of a disabled facilities grant award.

Kris Hopkins: In 2011-12 (the latest figures available), 44,000 grants were made in England and the average amount of a disabled facilities grant awarded was around £6,700.
	The Government secured £725 million for the disabled facilities grant in the 2010 spending review for the period 2011-12 to 2014-15 and over the last two years the Government has invested a further £60 million, bringing the total amount to £785 million. In the 2015-16 spending round announcement, a further £220 million has been allocated to the disabled facilities grant.
	Details about the disabled facilities grants are published on the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disabled-facilities-grant

Discrimination

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many claims at employment tribunals have been lodged against his Department on the grounds of pregnancy or maternity discrimination in each of the last five years; and how many such cases were found against his Department.

Brandon Lewis: There have been no employment tribunals lodged against DCLG or its executive agencies on the grounds of pregnancy or maternity discrimination in each of the last five years.

Discrimination

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many complaints of discrimination related to pregnancy or maternity have been lodged against employees of his Department or its executive agencies by (a) current employees and (b) prospective employees in each of the last five years; and how many such complaints resulted in disciplinary action.

Brandon Lewis: There have been no complaints of discrimination related to pregnancy or maternity against employees of DCLG or its executive agencies by (a) current employees and (b) prospective employees in each of the last five years.

Discrimination

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many complaints of age discrimination or harassment have been lodged against employees of his Department or its executive agencies by (a) employees and (b) other individuals in each of the last five years; and how many of those complaints resulted in disciplinary action.

Brandon Lewis: There have been no complaints of age discrimination or harassment lodged against employees of this Department or its Executive agencies by (a) employees and (b) other individuals in each of the last five years.

Discrimination

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many complaints of racial discrimination or harassment have been lodged against employees of his Department or its executive agencies by (a) employees and (b) other individuals in each of the last five years; and how many such complaints resulted in disciplinary action.

Brandon Lewis: There have been no complaints of racial discrimination or harassment lodged against employees of this Department or its Executive agencies by (a) employees and (b) other individuals in each of the last five years.

Discrimination

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many complaints of sexual discrimination or harassment have been lodged against employees of his Department or its executive agencies by (a) employees and (b) other individuals in each of the last five years; and how many such complaints resulted in disciplinary action.

Brandon Lewis: There have been no complaints of sexual discrimination or harassment lodged against employees of this Department or its Executive agencies by (a) employees and (b) other individuals in each of the last five years.

Discrimination

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many complaints of disability discrimination or harassment have been lodged against employees of his Department or its Executive agencies by (a) employees and (b) other individuals in each of the last five years; and how many such complaints resulted in disciplinary action.

Brandon Lewis: There have been no complaints of disability discrimination or harassment lodged against employees of this Department or its Executive agencies by (a) employees and (b) other individuals in each of the last five years.

Discrimination

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many complaints of homophobic or transphobic discrimination or harassment have been lodged against employees of his Department or its Executive agencies by (a) employees and (b) other individuals in each of the last five years; and how many such complaints resulted in disciplinary action.

Brandon Lewis: There have been no complaints of homophobic or transphobic discrimination or harassment lodged against employees of this Department or its Executive agencies by (a) employees and (b) other individuals in each of the last five years.

Families: Disadvantaged

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of whether her Department's troubled families programme has led to a change in the levels of anti-social behaviour; and if she will make a statement.

Kris Hopkins: Information published by my Department on 25 November 2013 shows that, as at the end of October 2013, local authorities had turned around the lives of 22,104 troubled families. The criteria by which a family is deemed turned around are published in the Financial Framework for the Troubled Families Programme's Payment by Results Scheme:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-troubled-families-programme-financial-framework
	This shows that 20,674 families have been turned around on the basis of reduction in levels of antisocial behaviour and/or youth crime and/or truancy.

Families: Disadvantaged

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 25 November 2013, Official Report, columns 82-3W, on disadvantaged families and with reference to the statement in the answer that his Department does not hold the information requested relating to employment and incidence of anti-social behaviour (ASB), through what mechanisms his Department monitors (a) the effectiveness of the programme against its stated criteria including employment and ASB and (b) its cost-effectiveness in terms of use of public funds; and if he will make a statement.

Kris Hopkins: Progress information showing the effectiveness of the troubled families programme is published regularly by my Department. The most recent publication on 25 November 2013 shows that, as at the end of October 2013, local authorities have successfully turned around the lives of 22,104 troubled families. Of this number, 20,674 have achieved the combined education/crime/antisocial behaviour result and 1,430 have achieved the continuous employment result. A breakdown of these results by upper-tier local authority is published here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/260612/131122__PI_ResultsOct13_final_.xls
	In addition, my Department has commissioned an independent evaluation of the Troubled Families programme which will look at outcomes achieved beyond those claimed under the terms of my Department's “Financial Framework for the Troubled Families programme's payment-by-results scheme for local authorities”
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/11469/2117840.pdf
	This will include the measurement of employment and antisocial behaviour outcomes and a fiscal evaluation. Details of the evaluation are available here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/news/study-to-assess-impact-of-troubled-families-work

Growing Places Fund

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many successful applications have been made to the Growing Places Fund since its introduction;
	(2)  how many projects which were given funding under the Growing Places Fund have been started; and how many homes have been completed as a result.

Kris Hopkins: An analysis of progress updates submitted by local enterprise partnerships in England, ‘The Growing Places Fund: investing in infrastructure’, was published on 13 November 2013 and is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-growing-places-fund-investing-in-infrastructure
	As set out in that document, progress updates submitted in June 2013 show that £652 million of capital funding has been allocated to 305 projects across England. 159 projects (52% of the 305 approved projects across England) with an estimated total value of £1.5 billion are already under way; local enterprise partnerships expect these projects to create 4,900 businesses, 94,000 jobs and 27,000 houses. Data on housing units completed to date are not yet collected centrally.

Housing

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 25 November 2013, Official Report, column 11, on New Homes Bonus, if he will set out the purpose of the New Homes Bonus.

Kris Hopkins: The New Homes Bonus is a powerful, simple and transparent incentive to reward local councils and communities for helping build more homes. It match funds the additional council tax raised for new homes and empty properties brought back into use, for six years with an enhancement for affordable homes.
	This extra funding ensures people with new homes in their neighbourhood experience the benefits of growth, and local councils can choose to spend the money however they like. That could be providing new facilities, protecting frontline services or simply freezing council tax. Indeed, this is why the New Homes Bonus is included in the spending power figures we publish as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement.
	I note that Her Majesty's Opposition have recently criticised the fact that councils have not spent the monies on house building. But this is a straw man argument—it was never intended to be ring-fenced for housing. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) told the House previously:
	“The Government do not propose to tell local authorities how and when to spend the funding received from the New Homes Bonus.”
	Official Report, 24 November 2010, column 307W
	“The New Homes Bonus is not ring-fenced...The priorities of local communities and barriers to growth are different across the country and the Government will not dictate where the Bonus should be spent.”
	Official Report, 4 July 2011, column 997W
	The New Homes Bonus was originally drawn up by the Conservative party in Opposition in its policy Green Paper, Control Shift. I appreciate that having actual policies on local government may be an alien concept for the current Opposition. So it may assist the hon. Member if I cite the original explanation for the policy:
	“Labour's approach has been to impose a variety of Whitehall master plans on local government, wrapped in a thick layer of bureaucracy and studded with detailed housing targets. And when those targets are inevitably missed, the reaction is simply to announce new, yet more ambitious targets. This top-down approach has failed to provide the housing we need.”
	“Under the current system, when families move into new houses built in an area, the local authority receives additional council tax receipts from these properties. However, in addition to having to fund the extra services and infrastructure for these new residents and properties, local authorities that acquire larger council tax bases as a result of house-building in their areas will in many cases find that the amount of formula grant they receive from central government is reduced by the equalisation process.”
	“We can meet the housing challenge only if we acknowledge that local support for new development is the crucial missing element. The solution lies in giving local councils and local communities incentives for house building, not targets. By creating a real and substantial financial incentive to reward communities that accept house building, we guarantee that those directly affected by development are those that benefit”
	Conservative party, Control Shift, October 2008
	The incentive of the New Homes Bonus is complemented by the local retention of business rates and Community Infrastructure Levy, to ensure that local communities can share the benefits of new development.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households affected by the under-occupancy penalty have previously been in receipt of a disabled facilities grant.

Kris Hopkins: This information is not collected centrally.

Non-domestic Rates: Valuation

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many businesses in (a) Washington and Sunderland West constituency, (b) the North East and (c) England have been awaiting a determination from the Valuation Tribunal for (i) up to three months, (ii) three to six months and (iii) over six months;
	(2)  how many businesses in (a) Washington and Sunderland West constituency, (b) the North East and (c) England are currently awaiting a determination from the Valuation Tribunal.

Brandon Lewis: As was the case under the last administration, business rates appeals are listed in accordance with the Valuation Office Agency's programming protocols for dealing with appeals. The Valuation Tribunal Service lists for hearing those business rates appeals that have not been settled by the target date set by the Valuation Office Agency; this is the point when the negotiation period between the ratepayers and the Valuation Office Agency should end.
	A table has been placed in the Library of the House, which shows the total number of appeals that the Valuation Tribunal Service is aware of after the target date. Before the target date, the Valuation Office Agency will be in discussion with the appellant with a view to resolving the issue.
	The Valuation Tribunal Service does not record business rates appeals by parliamentary constituency. The table instead notes the relevant cases in the area of the local billing authority—Sunderland city council. As outlined in the written statement of 18 September 2012, Official Report, column 32WS, my Department does not publish statistics by the former Government office regions. I am happy to provide information on other local billing authorities on request.
	The postponement of the 2015 rates revaluation has allowed the Valuation Office Agency to allocate more resources to clearing appeals. The agency cleared 24% more appeals than in the previous year (224,000 in England in 2012-13, up from 181,000 in 2011-12). The number of outstanding rating appeals has fallen in six successive quarters.
	Three quarters of all appeals to the 2010 list which have been decided to date have resulted in no change to the rateable value.
	Notwithstanding the extra resources being allocated to tackle the backlog thanks to the postponement of the 2015 revaluation, this Government wants to improve transparency in the valuation system, including improving the system for challenging rateable values. We are currently considering how best to do this, and will consult as appropriate.

Public Lavatories

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the effect on the availability of public toilets of the reduced resources made available to local authorities since May 2010; and what steps he is taking to restore public conveniences closed during this period.

Brandon Lewis: The Government has urged councils to protect local services by sharing back office functions, cutting wasteful expenditure, improving procurement to get more for less, and bringing senior pay under control. We have published a best practice document, “50 ways to save”, to encourage councils to make sensible savings and protect frontline services:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/50-ways-to-save-examples-of-sensible-savings-in-local-government
	The Department continues to support the Changing Places campaign which is proving effective in driving up provision of these important toilet facilities and we have recently updated Part M (Access to and use of Buildings) of the Building Regulations to highlight where changing places are needed and link to guidance available from the campaign website.
	We are continuing to work with industry and members of the Changing Places campaign to develop a range of initiatives including a joint project to map the location of Changing Places toilets across the UK.

Right to Buy Scheme

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of local authorities' compliance with their statutory obligations under the right-to-buy scheme; what reports he has received on Stevenage borough council's compliance with these obligations; and if he will take steps to improve the performance of Stevenage borough council with its obligations under right-to-buy.

Kris Hopkins: holding answer 27 November 2013
	Social housing landlords have a statutory duty to process right-to-buy applications within set timescales. Where landlords are failing in this duty, I would encourage tenants to make use of the delay response mechanisms available, including serving landlords with statutory notices of delay where appropriate.
	Continual delays can result in a reduction in the purchase price (rent paid during the delayed period is treated as an advance payment towards the purchase price of the property under the right to buy). Statutory notice of delay forms and guidance can be found here:
	www.gov.uk/right-to-buy-buying-your-council-home/delays
	I am pleased that my hon. Friend is committed to helping his constituents fulfil their dreams of home ownership. While my Department has made no such assessment, I would welcome any representations from any hon. Member if they have concerns about particular local authorities.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

BBC

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what mechanisms are available to hon. Members to hold the BBC to account on management issues.

Edward Vaizey: The BBC is an independent body governed by the Royal Charter, which is its constitutional basis. The Charter sets out the public purposes of the BBC, guarantees its independence, and outlines the duties of the Trust and the Executive Board. Under the terms of the BBC's Charter and Agreement, the BBC is operationally and editorially independent of Government and there is no provision for the Government to intervene in the Corporation's day-to-day operations. Ultimately, it is for the BBC Trust to hold the Executive to account for managerial decisions, and to ensure value for money in the spending of the licence fee.
	As a public body, the BBC lay their annual report and accounts in Parliament, and Members of the BBC and BBC Trust are invited to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and Select Committees.
	This Government has also opened up the BBC to a greater degree of scrutiny by the National Audit Office than ever before, and the NAO's reports—such as that into the remuneration of senior executives—have been scrutinized by the Public Accounts Committee. The Government is currently working with the NAO and the BBC Trust to amend the Agreement and provide greater flexibility and scope for the NAO's value for money work at the BBC.

Digital Broadcasting: Radio

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many radio stations with an FM licence broadcasting to a total survey area of fewer than 500,000 adults currently also broadcast on DAB.

Edward Vaizey: The licensing of commercial radio stations is a matter for Ofcom, which works independently of Government. According to figures from Ofcom, there are 56 stations with an FM licence which broadcast to a total survey area of fewer than 500,000 adults and currently also broadcast on DAB.

ICT

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people are employed within centralised IT departments or teams in her Department; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Grant: The Department has three people who are employed within centralised IT departments or teams.

Rugby: World Cup

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to prevent rugby fans wishing to attend the 2015 Rugby World Cup from being exploited by ticket touts through the secondary ticketing market; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Grant: We are in very regular contact with the CEO of England Rugby 2015 and her team and have provided advice on a range of options available to them to manage the risk of ticket touts at venues. We have also encouraged them to look at ways to make tickets available both for rugby fans, as well as those interested in attending a rugby match for the first time, through their club structures and other mechanisms.

Rugby: World Cup

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the organisers of the 2015 Rugby World Cup regarding problems relating to tickets reaching the secondary ticketing market; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Grant: I met England Rugby 2015 recently and am aware of their concerns about the secondary ticketing market.

Rugby: World Cup

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the implications for rugby fans wishing to attend the 2015 Rugby World Cup of tickets reaching the secondary ticketing market; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Grant: This is a matter for the event organisers.

Rugby: World Cup

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the potential threat to the success of the 2015 Rugby World Cup of tickets being resold through the secondary ticketing market; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Grant: I have not seen any evidence that suggests the success of the 2015 Rugby World Cup is under threat from tickets being resold on the secondary market.

UK City of Culture: Londonderry

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the effect on tourism from overseas of the Londonderry City of Culture 2013 events.

Helen Grant: This is not a matter for this Department since tourism is a devolved issue. Tourism statistics relating to Northern Ireland are maintained by the Northern Ireland Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment.

World War I: Anniversaries

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assistance her Department is providing to help local authorities mark the 100 years since the start of the First World War; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Grant: The Government is leading a wide-ranging centenary commemoration programme with opportunities for all. Commemorative paving stones to mark Victoria Cross recipients in their home towns are being made available to local authorities, including Montague Moore, Cecil Noble and Frederick Riggs from Bournemouth. Local authorities can apply for Heritage Lottery Fund grants for community projects and become members of the Imperial War Museum's Centenary Partnership. Several from Bournemouth have done so.

TREASURY

Bank Cards

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance his Department is giving to those asked to vote on the Scheme of Arrangement the FCA has agreed with Card Protection Plan Limited and high street banks.

Sajid Javid: This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA will reply to my hon. Friend directly by letter. A copy of the response will be placed in the Library of the House.

Bank of England

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is possible for another sovereign state to possess a shareholding in the Bank of England.

Sajid Javid: The Bank of England is the central bank of the UK. Pursuant to the Bank of England Act 1946, on 1 March 1946 all capital stock of the Bank of England, or 'Bank stock', was transferred into the name of the Treasury Solicitor, to be held on behalf of HM Treasury.
	That legislation does not authorise the stock to be held for any person, including any foreign state, except the Treasury.

Bradford and Bingley

Richard Harrington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many former shareholders of Bradford & Bingley Building Society at the time of its nationalisation in 2008 lived in (a) the UK and (b) Watford constituency.

Sajid Javid: HM Treasury does not hold the information requested.

Business: Loans

John Denham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the level of net bank lending to small and medium-sized enterprises in each English region in each quarter since 2009.

Sajid Javid: The Government does not collect data on bank lending by region. However, as part of the Better Business Finance taskforce agreed between the Government and the banks in 2011, the British Bankers' Association now publishes an enhanced SME lending dataset that includes a regional breakdown. The first dataset was published on 20 March 2012, and data are published on a quarterly basis.
	The Government also announced in July that it had reached an agreement with the major UK banks to publish lending data across 10,000 individual postcodes on a bank by bank basis. The first dataset will be published in December.
	The postcode lending data will be published on a quarterly basis and show the outstanding stock of lending that has been committed to customers across three categories: loans and overdrafts to SMEs, mortgages and unsecured personal loans.

Corporation Tax

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure that multinational corporations are not able to deduct payments made to settle legal disputes from their profits for the purposes of calculating their UK corporation tax liability.

David Gauke: Companies can generally claim a deduction against taxable profits for expenditure incurred in the ordinary course of business. It is well established that punitive fines and damages paid to compensate for illegal actions are not incurred in the ordinary course of business and are not, therefore, allowable.
	Additionally, in the context of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and payments made to settle legal disputes, it should be understood that, for each company within the MNE group, only expenditure incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the company's own trade can be claimed. This means that no tax relief is available to a UK company for such a payment, or a proportion of the payment, which is proper to a separate company, such as an overseas fellow group company, for example.
	These long-standing principles provide equitable tax treatment for all businesses and, as such, no further steps are currently required.

Debts: Barrow in Furness

John Woodcock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of levels of consumer debt in Barrow and Furness constituency in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2013
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of levels of consumer debt in Barrow and Furness constituency in each of the last five years 179306.
	The Office for National Statistics publishes details of consumer debt, in the form of short and long term loans, at a UK level only. The most recent analyses can be found in table A53 of the United Kingdom Economic Accounts (UKEA) 2013 Q2, published on 26 September 2013. The UKEA is available on the National Statistics website at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/naa1-rd/united-kingdom-economic-accounts/q2-2013/index.html

Excise Duties: Fuels

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for how long he intends to continue with the current rural fuel rebate.

Danny Alexander: The European Commission has provided approval for a reduced rate of fuel duty to be applied on the Scottish Islands and the Isles of Scilly until 31 October 2017, after which the Government will need to review the approval of the scheme.

Finance Act 2008

Anne Main: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the implications for HM Revenue and Customs of the recent High Court judgement in respect of section 58(4) of the Finance Act 2008.

David Gauke: UK residents are taxable on their worldwide income wherever it arises—including situations where it arises by way of foreign partnerships. Section 58 of Finance Act 2008 was enacted to help put that beyond doubt and in so doing, made clear that a wholly artificial tax avoidance scheme involving a foreign partnership comprised of foreign trustees did not work. As section 58 retrospectively clarified existing legislation, its introduction had no affect on any taxpayer's tax position.
	HMRC is not aware of any recent High Court decision in respect of section 58 and therefore no assessment has been made.

Individual Savings Accounts

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward proposals to (a) allow individuals to utilise the full annual ISA allowance in either cash or stocks and shares and (b) enable people to convert from one type of ISA to the other.

David Gauke: At present, individuals are permitted to save their full annual ISA allowance of £11,520, in a stocks and shares ISA, with the option to save half of this amount in a cash ISA,
	It is also already possible for ISA investors to transfer funds invested in a cash ISA to a stocks and shares ISA outside of the annual subscription limits.
	The Government has no plans to allow an individual to save their full ISA allowance in a cash ISA or to convert a stocks and shares ISA into a cash ISA, although all areas of tax policy are kept under review.

Lord King of Lothbury

David Nuttall: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what money from the public purse was spent on retirement parties and retirement gifts for Baron King of Lothbury on his retirement as Governor of the Bank of England.

Sajid Javid: The Treasury purchased one autograph book, which was signed and presented to the previous Governor of the Bank of England by the G20 finance Ministers in July. The value of this gift was below the transparency return threshold of £140.
	Any funding committed by the Bank of England for such purposes is a matter for the Bank.

Ministers' Private Offices

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he (a) has appointed or (b) intends to appoint an enlarged ministerial office.

Nicky Morgan: I refer my hon. Friend to the Minister for the Cabinet Office's answer of 28 November 2013, Official Report, column 398W.

National Insurance Contributions

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider replacing the separate primary and secondary National Insurance thresholds with a single threshold; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: The autumn statement on 5 December will set out the levels of the primary and secondary thresholds for 2014-15. All tax and NICs policy is kept under review, and any changes for years beyond 2014-15 will be announced by the Chancellor at future fiscal events.

Overseas Companies

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the total (a) cash and (b) accumulated profits held currently by UK companies overseas.

David Gauke: Neither the Treasury nor HMRC have made such estimates.

Revenue and Customs: Newry

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases were processed by the HM Revenue and Customs office in Newry in each of the last five years.

David Gauke: holding answer 28 November 2013
	HMRC does not record processing figures by case but uses system generated work items.
	The following numbers of system generated work items have been processed by Customs House, Newry over the last five tax years. These figures may include a number of inquiries made by an individual customer in respect of their account and so do not represent case numbers.
	
		
			 Tax year Work Items processed 
			 2012-13 413,833 
			 2011-12 524,986 
			 2010-11 600,922 
			 2009-10 198,874 
			 2008-09 59,241

Taxation: Self-assessment

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many additional people completed a self-assessment tax return as a result of the high-income child benefit tax charge in the most recent period for which figures are available.

David Gauke: This information is not currently available. Self assessment returns for the 2012-13 tax year-the first year for which the High income child benefit charge is payable-do not have to be filed with HM Revenue and Customs until 31 January 2014.

Welfare Tax Credits: EU Nationals

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of paying tax credits to citizens of other EU member states who are employed in the UK in the most recent year for which data are available.

Nicky Morgan: The information is available only at disproportionate cost.

Welfare Tax Credits: EU Nationals

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to bring forward changes to the eligibility criteria for citizens of other EU countries employed in the UK who apply for tax credits.

Nicky Morgan: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is working closely with other Government Departments to ensure that the rules for tax credits align, where appropriate, with the measures recently announced by the Prime Minister.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Central African Republic

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the UN, the African Union and his French counterpart on steps that can be taken to tackle current problems in the Central African Republic and prevent a situation of genocide developing.

Mark Simmonds: We are working with our partners in the UN and EU to support the work of the Economic Community of Central African States and the African Union as they seek a lasting solution to the Central African Republic's instability.
	We welcome the proposed African-led security mission and are working with fellow members of the UN Security Council to agree a resolution on how the international community should support this.

China

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Prime Minister on the Government's action plan on business and human rights ahead of the Prime Minister's visit to China.

Hugo Swire: The Prime Minister is very supportive of the business and human rights agenda.
	The UK published the world's first cross-Government national action plan in September, providing clear messaging to UK businesses on the importance of responsible .behaviour which respects the rights of those employed by, or affected by operations, including through local supply changes.
	We engage with companies operating in China and their local suppliers through Chambers of Commerce and our diplomatic posts. Much of our project work supports delivery of the business and human rights agenda, for example labour rights and dispute resolution.
	We encourage all countries to join us in developing a national action plan as the first step towards implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

European Azerbaijan Society

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with the European Azerbaijan Society in each of the last three years.

David Lidington: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers have had no official meetings with representatives of the European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS) in the last three years. It is possible that Ministers have met representatives of (TEAS) at events, at which they were both present.

Iran

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Iranian government on stopping the use of capital punishment.

Hugh Robertson: The Government remains deeply concerned at the extensive use of capital punishment by Iran: at least 270 people were officially executed in 2013. A high number of death sentences are applied for charges that do not amount to the most serious crimes under international law, such as drug trafficking. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), raised Iran's poor human rights record with Foreign Minister Zarif in the margins of UNGA in September 2013.

Iran

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the existence of secret nuclear testing facilities in Iran.

Hugh Robertson: I am aware of recent press reports about the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI's) allegations that a complex of tunnels near Mobarekeh in Iran is a secret nuclear site, including allegations that it was a ‘nuclear bomb test site’. The location of the named site, in a functioning military establishment, and its proximity to a major city means that we assess it is unlikely that it is used for nuclear weapon testing. It is not clear whether the named facility is used for other nuclear-related purposes.

Iran and France

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the (a) Iranian and (b) French delegation during the most recent P5+1 meeting with Iran in Geneva about the joint Iranian-French involvement in the uranium enrichment consortium Sofidif.

Hugh Robertson: Neither Sofidif nor Eurodif were discussed with either the French or Iranian delegations at the recent nuclear negotiations in Geneva. Discussions focussed solely on securing a first stage agreement between the E3+3 and Iran which addresses our most important concerns about the Iranian nuclear programme.

Iraq

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the UK has blocked at the United Nations Security Council any proposals by the World Health Organisation to undertake research funded through the Oil for Food Programme into rates of health problems in Iraq.

Hugh Robertson: Our initial inquiries have not provided any evidence of the UK having blocked the use of Oil For Food funds for World Health Organisation (WHO) research at the UN Security Council. However, Foreign and Commonwealth Office records covering the period of the Oil for Food Programme are not held centrally, and accessing our archives would incur disproportionate costs. We are aware that the WHO has carried out research in Iraq using its own funds.

Nuclear Disarmament

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the work of the Open-ended working group on nuclear disarmament.

Hugh Robertson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Senior Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my right hon. and noble Friend the Baroness Warsi, in the other place on 15 July 2013, Official Report, column WA93.

Nuclear Weapons

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the statement on the humanitarian consequences of the use of nuclear weapons at the UN General Assembly First Committee.

Hugh Robertson: A number of member states, including the UK, delivered statements on the humanitarian consequences of the use of nuclear weapons at the UN General Assembly First Committee.
	We share the concern over the humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons, expressed by nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) states parties at the 2010 review conference. The UK continues to attach the greatest importance to avoiding the use of nuclear weapons, and supports and participates in a range of efforts to increase international resilience to the threat of nuclear terrorism.
	We are concerned that some efforts under the humanitarian initiative appear increasingly aimed at negotiating a nuclear weapons convention prohibiting the possession of nuclear weapons, outside existing processes. The UK believes that any attempts to establish a new conference or body to discuss such approaches risk undermining the full implementation of all three pillars of the NPT, which must remain our priority.

Nuclear Weapons

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the UK will be represented at the second international meeting on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, to be convened on 13 and 14 February 2014 in Nayarit, Mexico.

Hugh Robertson: We received an invitation from the Mexican Government on 26 November, and have not yet made a decision on whether the UK will attend.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many of his Department's civil servants have been seconded to (a) the private sector and (b) trades unions in each year since 2010.

Hugh Robertson: From 1 January 2010 to the present, the breakdown of Foreign and Commonwealth Office employees who have been seconded to private sector organisations in the UK is as follows:
	
		
			  Number of employees who went on secondment 
			 2010 8 
			 2011 17 
			 2012 13 
			 2013 7 
		
	
	At present there are currently 13 FCO employees on secondment to private sector organisations.
	Over this period no employees have been seconded to a trade union.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many secondees from (a) trades unions and (b) the voluntary sector have worked in his Department since 2010.

Hugh Robertson: No secondees from either a trade union or the voluntary sector have worked in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office since 2010.

Thailand

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice his Department is providing to UK nationals in Thailand about safety and the anti-government protests in Bangkok.

Hugo Swire: There are continuing protests in Bangkok and elsewhere in Thailand, particularly around government buildings. All sides state they are not seeking confrontation and want to avoid violence. At present, there is no direct threat to UK businesses, tourists or commercial interests in Thailand, but we continue to monitor the situation closely.
	We have added factual updates to our travel advice throughout this period of protests and continue to keep it under review. Our current advice to British nationals is to avoid all protests, political gatherings and demonstrations.
	As I made clear in my public statement of 25 November, the UK urges all sides to adhere to their commitment to the values of democracy and rule of law in the interests of Thailand's peace and stability. Our ambassador to Thailand is in regular contact with both Thai government and opposition leaders, and officials in London are also in contact with the Thai embassy.

Trident Submarines

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what discussions were held by his Department on the replacement of the Trident submarines at the recent High Level Meeting on nuclear disarmament at the UN;
	(2)  what discussions were held by his Department on the replacement of the Trident submarines at the recent UN General Assembly First Committee.

Hugh Robertson: No discussions were held by my Department at the UN General Assembly First Committee or at the UN High Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament on the subject of the UK's planned replacement of its Vanguard class submarines. Maintaining the UK's nuclear deterrent beyond the life of the current system is fully consistent with our obligations as a recognised nuclear weapon state under the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

JUSTICE

Community Orders: Greater London

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether his Department's contract with Serco for the delivery of community payback in London includes any break clauses.

Jeremy Wright: The contract with Serco for London Community Payback does not contain a break clause. The contract does contain a standard clause allowing the authority to terminate the contract should the need arise.

Domestic Violence

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many magistrates have received training in dealing with domestic violence cases in each year since 2010.

Shailesh Vara: The Judicial College provides comprehensive training materials which are available to all members of the judiciary. The Domestic Violence training takes the form of a core pack which can be delivered either as a full day's training or in modular form and is supplemented by two DVDs.
	Details of those magistrates who have received training are not collated centrally. It could be provided only at disproportionate cost by contacting each of the 26 local regions of Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service to isolate the information from the individual training records for over 23,000 magistrates.

Energy

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how much his Department spent on (a) gas and (b) electricity in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12;
	(2)  who the provider was for (a) gas and (b) electricity for his Department in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12;
	(3)  what steps he is taking to reduce the cost of gas and electricity provision for his Department.

Shailesh Vara: The information is as follows:
	173068
	In the financial years 2010-12 the Department spent:
	
		
			 £ million 
			 Financial year Gas Electricity 
			 2010-11(1) 16 35.1 
			 2011-12 24 39 
			 (1) Spend data provided by Government Procurement Service through their Utilities Framework for Court Services; HM Prisons; and Legal Services Commission, as Ministry of Justice Bravo spend analyser not available prior to Q4 of 2010-12. 
		
	
	173140
	Since 2010, the energy suppliers have been the same:
	NHH Electricity—British Gas
	HH Electricity—EDF Energy
	Gas—Corona Energy.
	173143
	The MOJ are mandated by Cabinet Office to use the Government Procurement Service (GPS) National Frameworks for Utilities and Energy Management. GPS work on behalf of the public sector as an Executive agency of the Cabinet Office and is the largest buying organisation in the UK with a remit to work across the whole of the public sector. The aggregated volume provides GPS with access to wholesale energy markets, increases their ability to manage risk via a range of flexible and locked purchasing options, and provides leverage for securing improved pricing and supplier offerings, developing new and innovative energy efficiency solutions for the public sector and maximising the use of new and existing energy assets. Savings are generated through the GPS energy framework agreements and are supported by agreed benefits methodologies, which are formally audited by the Cabinet Office.
	MOJ is also committed to reducing consumption across its estate. It works closely with its facilities manager providers to ensure buildings are run as efficiently as possible and has introduced a behavioural change campaign which it is starting to roll out across its court estate. The Ministry also has a programme of works to reduce consumption which includes low energy lighting, voltage optimisation and boiler replacements to improve site efficiency.
	In an effort to reduce/maintain future costs the Ministry of Justice are also supporting the newly introduced Power Purchasing Agreements launched by the Minister for the Cabinet Office in December 2012. This initiative will provide an element of fixed costs energy for 25 years.

Flexible Working

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many officials in his Department make use of compressed hours arrangements as part of the Civil Service's flexible working hours scheme (a) above and (b) below director level.

Shailesh Vara: A compressed hours working week, or ‘long days', involves working fewer days each week, eg three or four, but for longer hours. This allows employees to work their full-time net hours—like other full-time staff—but with additional non working days off. Such arrangements will not be for everyone and may not be suitable for all roles.
	Table 1 shows the number of officials within the Ministry of Justice (including NOMS) with a compressed hours working arrangement, as at 31 October 2013.
	
		
			 Table 1 
			  Number 
			 (a) Above director level 4 
			 (b) Below director level 851

Human Trafficking: Children

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice of the 40 suspected victims of trafficking who were over 18 years of age referred to the National Referral Mechanism by the Salvation Army between April to June 2013, how many were under 18 years of age at the time they were first trafficked and exploited in the UK.

James Brokenshire: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Home Department.
	The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) records referral data for adults and minors who are victims of trafficking separately and records the age at the time of referral.
	Adults referred to the NRM following trafficking that occurred when they were a minor are recorded in the published statistics for minors but as over 18 at the point of referral. In the period April to June 2013 the Salvation Army made six such referrals.
	The 40 cases identified in the question are of adults referred to the NRM as adult potential victims of trafficking and hence are listed in the statistics for adult referrals.

ICT

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people are employed within centralised IT departments or teams in his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Shailesh Vara: Information on the number of people employed by the Ministry of Justice including MOJ HQ, HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), National Offender Management Service (NOMS), Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and Legal Aid Agency (LAA) who work within centralised IT departments as at 31 October was 505.

Lasers: Prosecutions

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been prosecuted for offences involving use of a laser pen in the last five years.

Shailesh Vara: The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not all the specific circumstances of each case. This centrally held information does not allow us to separately identity whether a defendant was proceeded against for the misuse of a laser pen. This detailed information may be held on the court record but due to the size and complexity is not reported centrally to the MOJ. As such, the information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Offenders: Rehabilitation

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make it his policy to collect data on waiting times for individual offender behaviour programmes in English prisons.

Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service is currently developing a consistent and co-ordinated dataset for referrals for the Sex Offender Treatment Programmes (SOTP). This will assist in the prioritisation of cases across NOMS for places on these programmes. Once a workable dataset has been developed that can be collated nationally to provide data, we will consider the benefits of using a similar approach for other programmes.

Pay Television

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether offices of (a) his Department and (b) its Executive agencies have access to Sky Sports or an equivalent premium sports television service; and what the cost to the public purse is in each case.

Shailesh Vara: The MOJ does not subscribe to Sky Sports; however, a small number of offices have access to the parliamentary annunciator service. The annunciator service gives information about parliamentary proceedings, including live feeds from the Commons and Lords Chambers and Westminster Hall, on screens throughout the parliamentary estate. The feed received by MOJ includes the same channels, including Sky Sports, as are provided in the Palace of Westminster. There is no extra cost to the MOJ.

Prisoners

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average (a) cost per place and (b) cost per prisoner in (i) publicly run prisons and (ii) privately run prisons was in (A) 2010, (B) 2011 and (C) 2012.

Jeremy Wright: As part of the Government's Transparency Agenda, the Department routinely publishes full details of average costs per prisoner and place, based on actual net resource expenditure for each private and public sector prison and in summary form for the whole of the prison estate in England and Wales after the end of the financial year. The information for financial years 2010-11; 2011-12; and 2012-13; is published as an addendum to the NOMS annual report and accounts and available on the Department's website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics-2011-12
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics-201213
	The links include restated figures for 2010-11. Also included are restated figures for 2011-12 to enable a more true comparison with 2012-13. The figures for 2010-11 are not directly comparable with those for 2011-12 and 2012-13 due to changes in accounting treatment and scope.
	Copies of these are also placed in the House Library.
	The Government is committed to delivering reform in our public services. The Prison Competition Phase One Programme will deliver efficiency savings, in line with other public sector prisons, over the next four years.
	Care must be taken in considering the comparison between private and public sector costs for the following reasons:
	1. The public and private groups of prisons are not homogenous groups in terms of prison category, size, or age and these factors may have a greater impact on average costs than whether the prisons are public or private sector.
	2. The private sector contracts may have different responsibilities for provision of health or education services than public sector prisons. This will affect their relative costs.
	3. The different financing methods of PFI prisons mean that in an individual year the resource costs of private and public sector prisons are not directly comparable.
	4. The costs are based on resource expenditure recorded in NOMS annual accounts. The PFI prisons are on balance sheet, which means that the element of the private contractors’ charges related to the capital cost is not included in the unit costs, whilst depreciation of buildings is included. Following government accounting rules, the charge against the resource budget is not calculated in the same way.
	5. The PFI prisons costs include a charge for interest on capital costs. There is no equivalent charge in the public sector costs.

Prisoners’ Release

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will take steps to end early release for paedophiles and terrorists.

Jeremy Wright: On 4 October the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), announced proposals that criminals convicted of rape or attempted rape of a child under 13, and serious terrorism offences, should no longer be automatically released at the halfway point of their sentence. Under these proposals these offenders will only be released before the end of their custodial term under strict conditions at the discretion of the independent Parole Board. Before the Parole Board releases any criminal they must be convinced they no longer need to be detained to protect the public. These changes will require primary legislation which will be brought forward when parliamentary time allows.

Prisoners: Death

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners have died in (a) prisons and (b) young offender institutions during each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service publishes the number of deaths in prison custody as part of the National Statistics "Safety in Custody" bulletin.
	The latest publication can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many attacks on prison staff by prisoners there have been in each establishment in each month since May 2010;
	(2)  how many attacks on prison staff by prisoners there have been in each prison establishment in each month since May 2010.

Jeremy Wright: In the 12 months to June 2013 the rate of recorded assaults on staff was among the lowest since 2000, at 35 incidents per 1,000 prisoners.
	The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and the Prison Officers Association (POA) are jointly committed to a zero tolerance approach to assaults on staff, visitors and prisoners.
	NOMS takes the issue of assaults on prison staff very seriously. It currently has systems in place to deal with perpetrators quickly and robustly, with serious incidents referred to the police for prosecution. It is working with the police and Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that prisoners who assault staff are charged and punished appropriately.
	NOMS is committed to exploring options to continue to improve how violence is tackled in prisons to keep both staff and prisoners safe. It is currently looking at the policy and practice of the management of violence.
	There are many factors that can drive changes in the number of assaults on staff at individual establishments from one month to the next, including changes in admissions rates and composition of the prison population. A long term view over several months should be taken when considering changes in trend.
	Figures for the number of recorded assault on staff incidents and the rate per 1,000 prisoners are provided in Table 1.
	
		
			 Table 1: Assaults on staff, England and Wales prisons 
			  12 months to June each year: 
			  2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 
			 Assaults on Staff 3,084 3,354 3,551 3,386 3,269 3,121 2,977 2,933 3,087 3,019 
		
	
	
		
			 Assault on staff per 1,000 prisoners 42 45 46 43 40 38 35 35 35 35 
		
	
	Figures for the number of reported incidents of assaults on staff in each establishment and in each month between May 2010 and December 2012—the latest period for which statistics are available at establishment level—have been placed in the Library.

Prisons: Overcrowding

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  under what circumstances his Department would trigger Operation Safeguard;
	(2)  what changes have been made to Operation Safeguard since May 2010.

Jeremy Wright: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer my predecessor gave in March 2011. Operation Safeguard is required when the size or distribution of the prison population is such that it can no longer be managed within the available capacity.
	Prison population levels fluctuate throughout the year and we have sufficient accommodation for the current and expected population. There will be more adult male prison capacity in May 2015 than there was at the start of this Parliament
	There are no plans to re-activate Operation Safeguard. Police cells, under Operation Safeguard, have not been used since 22 September 2008 and no police cells under Operation Safeguard have been on stand by since the end of October 2008
	There have been no changes to Operation Safeguard arrangements since 2010.

Prisons: Security

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many incidents of prisons in full lockdown there have been in each of the last six months;
	(2)  how many incidents of prisons in full lockdown there have been in each month since May 2010.

Jeremy Wright: Prisons have the ability to “lockdown” all or part of a prison, wing or landing as an immediate operational response to an incident of disorder or to a security threat. The decision to undertake a full lockdown is taken following a dynamic risk assessment and involves a general confinement of prisoners to their cells.
	The following table provides details of the number of full prison lock downs undertaken since May 2010 for purposes of searching the prison. These are reported centrally. Details of other incidents of lockdown are not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost by undertaking a search of manual records at each establishment.
	
		
			 Table 1: Full lockdown search, by month, between 1 May 2010 and 31 October 2013 
			  Full lockdown search 
			 May 2010 1 
			 June 2010 0 
			 July 2010 0 
			 August 2010 0 
			 September 2010 0 
			 October 2010 1 
			 November 2010 0 
			 December 2010 1 
			 January 2011 1 
			 February 2011 4 
			 March 2011 0 
			 April 2011 1 
			 May 2011 2 
			 June 2011 1 
			 July 2011 0 
			 August 2011 2 
			 September 2011 0 
			 October 2011 2 
			 November 2011 2 
			 December 2011 2 
			 January 2012 1 
			 February 2012 3 
			 March 2012 0 
			 April 2012 0 
			 May 2012 1 
			 June 2012 3 
			 July 2012 2 
			 August 2012 0 
			 September 2012 1 
			 October 2012 2 
			 November 2012 1 
			 December 2012 0 
			 January 2013 2 
			 February 2013 2 
			 March 2013 1 
			 April 2013 1 
			 May 2013 3 
			 June 2013 0 
			 July 2013 0 
			 August 2013 0 
			 September 2013 0 
			 October 2013 1 
			 Note: These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Procurement

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much and what proportion of his Department's budget was spent on activities which were contracted out in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12 and (d) 2012-13; and how much and what proportion of his Department's budget he expects to be contracted out in (i) 2013-14 and (ii) 2014-15.

Shailesh Vara: The Ministry of Justice is committed to providing services in the most efficient way possible to provide the best value for taxpayers.
	The following table shows the estimated spend in billions and the percentage this represents of the Ministry of Justice's budget for the financial years 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13. The figures are not held in the same format for the 2009-10 financial year and so have not been included for comparison purposes. It is not possible to say at this time what the outturn figure will be for the current financial year, but at the end of September 2013 around 39% of spend was on contracted out activities. Data is not yet available for 2014-15.
	
		
			 Spend on contracted out services 
			 FY £ billion Percentage of total (%) 
			 2010-11 3.7 38 
			 2011-12 3.7 38 
			 2012-13 3.6 38

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many private secondees worked in his Department in the year up to September (a) 2012 and (b) 2011;
	(2)  how many of his Department's civil servants have been seconded to (a) the private sector and (b) trades unions in each year since 2010;
	(3)  how many secondees from (a) trades unions and (b) the voluntary sector have worked in his Department since 2010.

Shailesh Vara: Information held on the Ministry of Justice's central systems on the number of inward and outward secondees from and into the specified sectors and organisations in the relevant years is set out in the following tables:
	
		
			 177542: Secondments to the MOJ from the private sector 
			  Number of inward secondees 
			 October 2010 to September 2011 0 
			 October 2011 to September 2012 0 
		
	
	
		
			 177720: Secondments from the MOJ to the private sector 
			  Number of outward secondees 
			 January to December 2010 5 
			 January to December 2011 5 
			 January to December 2012 2 
			 January to October 2013 4 
		
	
	
		
			 Secondments from the MOJ to trade unions 
			  Number of outward secondees 
			 January to December 2010 2 
			 January to December 2011 2 
			 January to December 2012 0 
			 January to October 2013 0 
		
	
	
		
			 177743: Secondments into the MOJ from trade unions 
			  Number of inward secondees 
			 January to December 2011 0 
			 January to December 2012 0 
		
	
	
		
			 January to October 2013 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Secondments into the MOJ from the voluntary sector 
			  Number of inward secondees 
			 January to December 2010 0 
			 January to December 2011 0 
			 January to December 2012 0 
			 January to October 2013 0 
		
	
	A secondment takes place when an individual from a non-public sector external organisation in the UK voluntarily moves into the UK civil service for an agreed time period but remains an employee of their external organisation.
	An outward secondment takes place when an individual from the UK civil service voluntarily moves to a non-public sector external organisation for an agreed period of time but remains a UK civil service employee.

Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many and in what proportion of occasions cases in magistrates' courts have received a (a) six month custodial sentence for one offence and (b) 12 month custodial sentence for two offences in each of the last three years.

Shailesh Vara: Magistrates deal with summary offences, which are the less serious cases, such as motoring offences and minor assaults and also either-way offences which can be dealt with either by magistrates or before a judge and jury at the Crown Court.
	Parliament sets the maximum penalty for an offence to deal with the worst possible case. Imprisonable, summary only offences have a maximum penalty of six months and very few cases will, rightly, receive the maximum penalty.
	Magistrates courts have powers to impose a custodial sentence of up to six months for a single offence or up to 12 months if two or more custodial terms are imposed in respect of one or more triable either way offences.
	Where an offence has a maximum penalty of more than six months the magistrates court can send the case to the Crown Court for sentencing if it considers its powers are insufficient to deal the particular case.
	The information provided in the following table shows the number of offenders convicted at magistrates courts for one offence and received a six month custodial sentence, which is the maximum sentence available to magistrates, and those convicted and sentenced of two offences and received a six months sentence for each offence. From centrally held information it is not possible to ascertain whether or not the sentences are to be served consecutively or concurrently. Information is also provided for young offenders who were given a custodial sentence of 12 months by magistrates operating in their capacity as a youth court.
	
		
			 Offenders sentenced at magistrates courts to immediate custody for specified periods, England and Wales, 2010 to 2012(1) 
			  Total Sentenced Six months custody for one offence Proportion who received six months custody for one offence Six months custody for each of two offences Proportion who received six months custody for two offences Juveniles who received one offence of 12 months Juveniles who received two offence of 12 months 
			 2010 1,263,396 1,160 0.09 259 0.02 277 61 
		
	
	
		
			 2011 1,210,575 1,195 0.10 261 0.02 298 65 
			 2012 1,139,263 1,554 0.14 290 0.03 221 41 
			 (1) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice

Sentencing

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will discuss with the Sentencing Council ways of improving the consistency with which sentencing guidelines are taken account of.

Jeremy Wright: The Sentencing Council has a statutory duty under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to promote consistency in sentencing and to monitor the operation and effect of its guidelines on sentencing practice. These are matters for the Council which is independent of Government. Courts are required by law to follow the guidelines produced by the Council when sentencing (although they can depart from them in exceptional circumstances if it is in the interests of justice to do so).

Sexual Offences: Children

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many children received indeterminate sentences for sexual offences in each of the last 10 years.

Jeremy Wright: Our laws in these areas are robust and clear. The Government takes very seriously all matters relating to the sexual abuse of children and also any material which may appear to be derived from or to encourage such activity.
	The youth and immaturity of an offender must always be potential mitigating factors for the courts to take into account when passing sentence. However, where the facts of the case are particularly serious, the youth of the offender will not necessarily mitigate the appropriate sentence.
	The number of juveniles given an indeterminate custodial sentence ie Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) under section 226 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, for sexual offences, in England and Wales, from 2005 to 2012, in England and Wales, in 2012 (the latest available) can be viewed in following table. Section 226 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 only came into force in 2005.
	Court proceedings for the calendar year 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014.
	
		
			 Number of juveniles sentenced to Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP), for sexual offences, in England and Wales, 2005-12(1, 2) 
			  Total 
			 2005 2 
			 2006 11 
			 2007 10 
			 2008 15 
			 2009 13 
			 2010 10 
			 2011 4 
			 2012 7 
			 ‘-’ = Nil (1) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice.

Sexual Offences: Dorset

Robert Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many successful prosecutions for rape and sexual violence there were in (a) Poole constituency and (b) Dorset in each of the last three years.

Jeremy Wright: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and offenders found guilty at all courts for rape and for all sexual offences, in the Dorset police force area, from 2010 to 2012 (the latest available) can be viewed in the table.
	Information available centrally does not allow a breakdown of cases by parliamentary constituency.
	
		
			 Defendants proceeded against at magistrates court and offenders found guilty at all courts for rape(1) and all sexual offences, in the Dorset police force area, 2010-12(2,3) 
			 Offence Outcome 2010 2011 2012 
			 Rape Proceeded against 20 16 29 
			  Found guilty 12 8 10 
			      
			 Sexual offences Proceeded against 91 85 89 
			  Found guilty 65 57 50 
			 (1) Included attempted rape. (2) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with the Attorney-General in Northern Ireland on ending prosecutions for conflict-related murders in Northern Ireland.

Shailesh Vara: The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling), has not had any such discussions, as the Government has no plans to legislate for an amnesty of crimes relating to the troubles.

Tickets: Touting

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been prosecuted for using ticket bots under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not all the specific circumstances of each case. This centrally held information does not allow us to separately identity whether, under the Computer Misuse Act 1990, a ticket was sold through the use of illegal computer software (botnet). This detailed information may be held on the court record but due to the size and complexity is not reported centrally to the MOJ. As such, the information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Young Offenders

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) Vietnamese and (b) Afghan nationals under 18 were accommodated in the youth secure estate in each year between 2009 and 2012.

Jeremy Wright: It is not possible to provide information on the number of Vietnamese, and Afghan nationals under 18, who were accommodated in the youth secure estate in each year between 2009 and 2012 because it would require the manual inspection of each individual's record, which could be done only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on the management of foreign national offenders who are under the age of 18 is available at the following link:
	http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/modernised/criminality-and-detention/child-fnos?view=Binary

Young Offenders

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many consultations into young offending his Department has launched since 2010.

Jeremy Wright: All Government consultations are published on the website:
	www.gov.uk

Young Offenders

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many youth cautions have been given in the last year.

Jeremy Wright: The Government introduced a rationalised youth out-of-court framework in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. This replaced the previous system of reprimands and final warnings and, in some areas, youth conditional cautions with a new system comprising only the new youth caution and the youth conditional caution. This came into effect for offences committed from 8 April 2013. We therefore do not yet have a full year's worth of data on the number of youth cautions given.
	Data in respect of 10 to 17-year-olds in the 12 months ending June 2013 who were given a reprimand, final warning, youth conditional caution and, since 8 April 2013, a youth caution can be viewed through the enclosed link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/260305/out-of-court-disposals-0613.xls#‘TableQ2e’!A1

Young Offenders

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what comparative assessment he has made of remedial action and early intervention as ways of tackling young offending.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice is fully committed to reducing reoffending as well as preventing young people from committing offences in the first place.
	The Youth Justice Board (YJB) has co-funded a programme of research by the Social Research Unit (SRU)-an independent charity-on the effectiveness of a wide range of interventions to prevent and reduce youth offending and reoffending. This research ‘Investing in Children: Youth Justice' includes consideration of interventions aimed at preventing and reducing offending. Findings, published in 2012, can be found online:
	http://dartington.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Youth-Justice-2-November-2012.pdf
	The Youth Justice Board have used the results of this work to inform the delivery of effective interventions by youth justice practitioners.
	The Ministry of Justice is also committed to supporting cross-government initiatives to prevent young people from entering the youth justice system, including through the Troubled Families programme which aims to turn around the lives of 120,000 of the country’s most troubled families by 2015.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Access to Learning Hardship Fund

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has for the future of the Access to Learning Hardship Fund.

David Willetts: Any decisions on the Access to Learning Fund will be announced in the new year.

Apprentices

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many and what proportion of companies participating in his Department's Trailblazers initiative are small and medium-sized enterprises.

Matthew Hancock: We published a list of the employers and professional bodies involved in the first phase of Trailblazers on 28 November 2013. There are 12 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on the list, 20% of the employers involved.
	Many of the Trailblazers are working with organisations such as EEF, the Manufacturers' Organisation, to engage with and incorporate the views of a much wider group of smaller businesses; others are already testing their standards as they develop through their supply chains, which will include SMEs. We have been clear that the standards developed must be relevant for all businesses within a sector, including smaller businesses, and this is one of our published criteria for approving the standards.

EU Internal Trade: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the value of exports to the EU from firms based in (a) Cumbria and (b) Barrow and Furness constituency.

Michael Fallon: In the first half of 2013 (latest data available), businesses based in the North West exported £6.2 billion worth of goods to the European Union. The corresponding figure for 2012 as a whole was £13.4 billion. Figures are not compiled for areas below Government office region level.(1)
	Regional data on trade in services, broken down by EU and Non-EU markets,
	are not available.
	(1)Source:
	HMRC Regional Trade Statistics
	https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/RTS/Pages/default.aspx

Higher Education: Finance

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding will be allocated to the higher education teaching budget for the next financial year.

David Willetts: Budget allocations for the Higher Education Teaching Grant will be set out in the 2014-15 grant letter to HEFCE.

Higher Education: Private Sector

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of providing financial support to students enrolled at private colleges in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16 and (c) 2016-17.

David Willetts: Estimates of expenditure will be available later this year; estimates for 2015-16 onwards are subject to final decisions on spending review allocations.

Higher Education: Student Numbers

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what estimate his Department made of the number of students studying for higher national diplomas and higher national certificates; what the actual such figure has been; and what the cost to the public purse has been of any difference between these figures;
	(2)  how many (a) domestic students studying in public sector colleges, (b) foreign students in public sector colleges, (c) domestic students studying in private sector colleges and (d) foreign students in private sector colleges are studying for higher national diplomas and higher national certificates; and what the annual cost to the public purse is of funding each such group.

David Willetts: The Student Loans Company (SLC) publishes statistics on student support expenditure in its annual publication 'Student Support for Higher Education in England'. Statistics are disaggregated in this publication by domicile (England or EU) and provider type (Public or Alternative), but not qualification aims. The latest available statistics were published on 28th November 2013 at the following link:
	http://www.slc.co.uk/statistics/national-statistics/newnationalstatistics1.aspx
	Information on the qualification aims of students receiving financial support is not routinely published as it is not recorded in a standard format. However, estimates of the number of full-time students in receipt of student support and undertaking Higher National Diplomas (HNDs) and Higher National Certificates (HNCs), and the cost of supporting these students, are provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Student support paid to students with HND and HNC qualification aims England domiciled students in the UK and EU (non-UK) students in England 
			   Number of students supported Amount paid (£000) 
			 Provider Type Domicile 2011/12 2012/13 2011/12 2012/13 
			 Public Providers England 10,620 11,480 77,332 102,622 
			  EU (non-UK) 60 70 175 316 
			  Total 10,680 11,540 77,507 102,938 
			       
			 Alternative Providers England 2,590 15,320 21,278 131,416 
			  EU (non-UK) 40 170 120 501 
			  Total 2,620 15,490 21,398 131,916 
			 Note: These statistics refer to expenditure up to 31 August 2012 of the 2011/12 academic year, and up to 31 August 2013 of the 2012/13 academic year. Start dates at Alternative Providers of Higher Education are less typical than other institutions hence further payments may occur after 31 August, which is the end of the standard academic year. Source: Student Loans Company 
		
	
	We do not make estimates of the number of students studying for specific qualification aims. Alternative Providers were however asked to submit data to the Higher Educational Funding Council for England (HEFCE) on their 2013/14 recruitment plans. The Department received this data on 5 November 2013 and concluded that some of these plans were unaffordable, given the need to control public spending. BIS officials have therefore written to the 23 Alternative Providers that are expanding most rapidly to instruct them to recruit no more students, unless those students are studying on degree courses, which remain a priority. All other Alternative Providers are free to continue to recruit students to all courses designated for student support for the remainder of the 2013/14 academic year provided that the number of students they recruit does not exceed their planned recruitment as notified to HEFCE. This includes HNDs and HNCs.

Higher Education: Student Numbers

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what reports he has received on the potential risk that the number of students studying for higher national diplomas and higher national certificates would be higher than expected.

David Willetts: We do not make estimates of the number of students studying for specific qualification aims. Alternative providers were however asked to submit data to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) on their 2013/14 recruitment plans. The Department received this data on 5 November and concluded that some of these plans were unaffordable, given the need to control public spending. My officials have therefore written to the 23 alternative providers that are expanding most rapidly to instruct them to recruit no more students, unless those students are studying on degree courses, which remain a priority. All other alternative providers are free to continue to recruit students to all courses designated for student support for the remainder of the 2013/14 academic year provided that the number of students they recruit does not exceed their planned recruitment as notified to HEFCE. This includes Higher National Diplomas (HND) and Higher National Certificates (HNC) which are valuable qualifications.

ICT

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people are employed within centralised IT departments or teams in his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: The Department currently employs 47 staff in the core BIS IT Strategy and Services and IT security teams. However, the Department will be replacing its current IT system from early 2014 and the number of IT staff will reduce to a core intelligent client team in BIS of seven staff by March 2014.

Ministers' Private Offices

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he (a) has appointed or (b) intends to appoint an enlarged ministerial office.

Jo Swinson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr Maude) on 28 November 2013, Official Report, column 398W.

Post Offices

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with local authorities about increasing the range of government services provided by the Post Office network.

Jo Swinson: I refer the hon. Member to the joint report of this Department, the Local Government Association and the Post Office published in March 2013: ‘The Local Government and Post Office Ltd Pathfinder Programme—An Evaluation of Strategic Engagement’:
	http://www.postoffice.co.uk/sites/default/files/Political_ Stakeholder_Pathfinder.PDF

Post Offices: Scotland

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with Ministers in the Scottish Government on increasing the range of government services provided by the Post Office network.

Jo Swinson: The then Post Office Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), and the Secretary of State for Scotland chaired a meeting in January 2012 that was attended by the Minister for Energy, Economy and Tourism, Fergus Ewing MSP; the chief executive of Post Office Ltd, Paula Vennells; and senior representatives of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and National Federation of Subpostmasters (NFSP) to discuss how the Post Office network in Scotland could be used to provide access to services on behalf of the Scottish Government and Scottish local authorities.
	Following that meeting, Scottish Government officials advised that the Scottish Government was unable to identify any services that it believed could be delivered by the Post Office.

Refineries: Grangemouth

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the implication of recent events at Grangemouth refinery for Northern Ireland.

Michael Fallon: DECC officials were in touch with the Northern Ireland Executive from the outset, ensuring that suitable contingency plans were in place to safeguard Northern Ireland's fuel supplies despite the threat of disruption at Grangemouth refinery.

Science: Education

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which organisations have received funding for education and outreach in STEM subjects in each of the last three years.

David Willetts: The following organisations have received direct funding during this spending review period for education and outreach in STEM, STEMNET, the British Science Association and Engineering UK. The National Academies also receive funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), part of which goes on STEM education and outreach projects. In addition, the Science Museum received funding in 2013-14 and the UK Resource Centre for Women in STEM received funding in 2011-12.
	The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) allocates funding to support the teaching of STEM subjects in universities. In addition, it allocates funding to promote widening participation in higher education, some of which supports outreach to students who will go on to study STEM subjects.
	BIS partner organisations, for example, the UK Space Agency and the Meteorological Office, also undertake STEM education and outreach.
	The individual research councils have received funding from BIS, allocated from the Science Budget, for the past three years. In line with government strategy, Research Councils UK (RCUK) are committed to a public engagement strategy, which as one of its three aims encourages links between schools and the UK research community in order to secure and sustain a supply of future UK researchers:
	www.rcuk.ac.uk/per

Science: Education

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are in place for organisations which have received funding from his Department for education and outreach in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

David Willetts: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) requires all organisations which receive funding to deliver education and outreach activities in STEM to evaluate their work. The funding agreements contain objectives and performance indicators and require regular progress reporting. In addition, BIS commissions broader work to evaluate impact of its funded initiatives, including independent evaluation and public attitudes surveys. For example, the individual research councils have a number of mechanisms for evaluating activities related to STEM subjects. Over the past three years Research Councils UK (RCUK) has worked with not only the research councils but other research funders to ensure that their programmes are appropriately informed by the work of other funders and the learning from the evaluations is widely disseminated.
	In addition RCUK have undertaken a number of evaluations and reviews related to the knowledge exchange and impact of their investments to demonstrate and maximise the impact of the research they fund, highlight areas for improvement and ensure that RCUK continues to be a world leader in impact methodologies. RCUK's impact strategy has also been influenced by a number of external reviews and reports.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many of his Department's civil servants have been seconded to (a) the private sector and (b) trades unions in each year since 2010.

Jo Swinson: The following table shows the numbers of civil servants who have undertaken secondments out of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (and its predecessors) since 2010.
	
		
			 Organisation From To 
			 Unknown(1) 31 July 2006 4 December 2010 
			 Unknown(1) 2 January 2008 31 December 2010 
			 Unknown(1) 14 September 2008 15 September 2011 
			 Unknown(1) 28 September 2008 1 September 2010 
			 Unknown(1) 19 October 2008 20 October 2010 
			 Unknown(1) 31 January 2009 31 January 2010 
			 Unknown(1) 31 August 2009 31 August 2010 
			 Unknown(1) 15 September 2009 16 September 2011 
			 Unknown(1) 20 September 2009 21 September 2011 
			 Unknown(1) 11 November 2009 16 July 2010 
			    
			 Unknown(1) 30 June 2011 26 April 2015 
			 EADS Astrium 31 August 2011 1 January 2013 
			 European Commission 30 November 2011 30 November 2012 
			 Unknown(1) 4 December 2011 5 October 2014 
			    
			 LOCOG 18 January 2012 11 September 2012 
			 MRC 18 January 2012 26 October 2012 
			 FTI Consulting 30 April 2012 10 January 2014 
			 EBRD 30 April 2012 31 May 2013 
			 PA Consulting 30 April 2012 28 February 2014 
			 BBC 8 July 2012 25 July 2012 
			 DOH/Monitor 15 July 2012 12 July 2013 
			 PA Consulting 2 September 2012 3 September 2013 
			 European Commission 31 October 2012 1 November 2014 
			    
			 Learning and Skills Development Agency 20 January 2013 31 January 2014 
			 Research Council 31 March 2013 29 March2014 
			 EU 31 March 203 1 September 2014 
			 Research Council 30 April 2013 31 March 2014 
			 Research Council 12 May 2013 13 November 2013 
			 Skanska 12 June 2013 12 June 2015 
			 Groceries Code Adjudicator 30 June 2013 1 January 2014 
			 National Policing Improvement Agency 26 August 2013 27 August 2014 
			 (1 )Unfortunately, the organisation receiving the secondee was not recorded on old HR systems and trying to track down the individuals concerned or their managers to verify the records (some of whom may since have left the Department) would involve disproportionate cost. Note: Each line represents one person.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many secondees from (a) trades unions and (b) the voluntary sector have worked in his Department since 2010.

Jo Swinson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 November 2013, Official Report, column 667-8W, which included the information available for 2010.

Students: Disability

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people currently studying at universities in the UK are registered disabled.

David Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students at UK higher education institutions. Information is not collected on the number of students who were registered disabled. The performance indicators for higher education use the number of students in receipt of Disabled Students' Allowance as a measure of participation by people with a disability, and these are published on the HESA website:
	http://www.hesa.ac.uk/content/view/2072/141/
	The performance indicators show that 72,150 (6% of) UK domiciled full-time undergraduate students were in receipt of Disabled Students' Allowance in the academic year 2011/12. The equivalent figure for part-time students (who studied at least 50% of the time) was 7,475 (3.4%). These figures are sourced from the higher education sector and may understate the number of students who were registered as disabled.

UK Trade and Investment

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what UK Trade & Investment's staffing levels and budget were in the years (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013 for (i) Mexico, (ii) Indonesia, (iii) Turkey, (iv) Poland, (v) Argentina, (vi) South Africa, (vii) Venezuela, (viii) Thailand, (ix) Malaysia, (x) Chile, (xi) the Philippines, (xii) Pakistan, (xiii) Peru, (xiv) Ukraine, (xv) Romania, (xvi) Hungary, (xvii) Bulgaria, (xviii) Lithuania and (xix) Latvia.

Michael Fallon: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) is not an employer in its own right; it draws on civil service staff employed by one or other of its two parent Departments—the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
	The budgets below represent locally employed staffing costs assigned to each market. UKTI also sets broader programme budgets and we do not hold this information at market or regional level. To provide a breakdown of all UKTI spend by market would require obtaining and analysing all invoices and expense claims, which can be done only at a disproportionate cost.
	UKTI's annual programme outturn figures are set out in its Annual Report and Accounts for 2012-13, which is available in the Vote Office and the Libraries of the House (reference: HC 24).

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Energy

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make it easier for domestic energy consumers to switch supplier.

Michael Fallon: The Government is providing legislative backing to Ofgem's Retail Market Review measures which will simplify and standardise tariff structures and require suppliers to provide consumers with clearer and better quality information so that it will be easier for all consumers to compare tariffs to find a better deal and switch. We are also bringing forward legislation which will require suppliers to include QR codes on bills which link to a customer's data to make the process even easier. The Government is also discussing with energy suppliers how to reduce the time it takes for a switch to be completed.
	In addition to legislation, the Government is providing extra help and advice to vulnerable consumers through the Big Energy Saving Network to help them engage with the energy market and to give them the confidence to take decisions that will reduce their bills.
	The Government has also been instrumental in providing support to collective switching schemes. Earlier this year the Government kick-started a number of innovative projects through the £5 million Cheaper Energy Together competition. Money was awarded to 31 successful projects that all focused on engaging vulnerable consumers.

Garages and Petrol Stations

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his latest assessment is of the retail fuels market.

Michael Fallon: DECC published a report from Deloitte LLP in December 2012, which considers long-term changes to the retail market for road fuels in the UK, and the implications of these changes to our energy resilience. This market has changed significantly over the last decade. However, the findings of this report do not suggest that the changes to the size and shape of the retail market for road fuels have had significant impacts on the UK's ability to be able to respond to supply disruptions or that these have significantly reduced the access of UK motorists to a local supply of fuel.

Garages and Petrol Stations: Northern Ireland

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive and Northern Ireland petrol retailers on the Government’s plans to support the independent forecourt sector.

Michael Fallon: I met independent fuel retailers from across the UK at a Regeneration Forum organised by the Petrol Retailers Association in October to hear their views on the regulatory and other issues affecting the sector.

Ministers' Private Offices

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he (a) has appointed or (b) intends to appoint an enlarged ministerial office.

Gregory Barker: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude) on 28 November 2013, Official Report, column 398W.